Relevance
by thewobbler
Summary: Modern Day AU. Nothing good ever comes from sleeping with someone you meet at a bar. Rated M for language.
1. 1: Kenshin

**Author's Note: **As I said before, this will be loosely based on Grey's Anatomy. Though I assure you all that it won't just be a retelling of the series with the names replaced with the characters from Rurouni Kenshin. I'm a bit nervous about this since it's my first time to attempt writing something light. So… yeah. Anyway, enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Rurouni Kenshin, or any of its characters. All information regarding the institutions that will be mentioned in this story are fictional. This is being written purely for entertainment.

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><p><strong>Relevance<br>****Chapter 1**

**Kenshin**

"Hey."

Someone was poking him.

"Hey. You have to get up."

Apparently, that someone also felt the need to whisper the same things again and again in an effort to draw him out of his peaceful and comfortable slumber.

He was about to ignore the other person's efforts so he could slip back into dreamland, but the sheet he was laying on was so roughly pulled out from under him that he ended up crashing down onto the floor. He opened his eyes tiredly to look up at the person responsible for his rude awakening, fully intent on glaring the other person to death. When he looked up, however, he was blown away by the beauty that was before him—dressed in nothing but a thin white sheet, nonetheless; the same sheet that he was covering his very naked body not a minute ago.

"I tried to warn you," his angel chuckled. "You're a hard person to wake, did you know that?"

The woman before him was smiling down at him with such an amused look on her face that he felt he should be offended... but he wasn't. He was too busy admiring the girl's bright blue eyes that were filled with so much mirth he couldn't help the grin that grew on his face in answer to the warmth he was receiving from her. She had a few freckles around her cute button nose, and the line from her nose down to her lips was so defined he could swear they were molded into perfection by the gods themselves.

Her raven black hair was in disarray—evidence of the interesting night the two of them must've shared, and he was so annoyed with himself for not being able to remember all the details from their tumble. That was definitely the last time that he was letting Sano trick him into taking that much alcohol before making him talk to the beautiful girl at the end of the bar; not that he wasn't thankful for the latter part of the challenge—especially since that's what got him here in the first place.

Speaking of... where was he anyway?

Kenshin smiled up at the woman in front of him in embarrassment—which was only made worse when she threw a pillow at him so he could cover his family jewels. "Yeah, I... uh... had a rough night", he muttered shyly.

"I could tell," she replied.

He saw her raise her brows in surprise when she noticed that he did nothing but stare up at her instead of rushing around the room to try to clothe himself_. _

"Anyway," she said after a while, "I have to go take a shower now. I'm late for this thing I need to do and... when I come back out here, you shouldn't be here anymore, okay?" she explained charmingly.

_God, she's beautiful._

He chuckled as he stood up, taking extra care to ensure that the throw pillow he was given would cover what it needed to cover since he was still very naked and he was nowhere near close to finding where any of his clothes are. "Hospitality must be one of your strong points, Miss...?"

"Kaoru," she replied, giggling silently as she reached out to shake his already outstretched hand. "Kaoru Kamiya."

"Kenshin Himura. It's very nice to meet you, Miss Kaoru."

"Just Kaoru, please. I think what happened last night merits the loss of formality between us." She gave him one last amused glance before looking past him to check the time on the clock hanging high up on the wall behind him. The clock read nine-fifteen, and he watched her amusement slowly fade into panic. "I'm really late now, so I have to go. It's my first day at my new job, and I don't want to make a bad first impression."

"Oh yeah? I doubt you could ever make a bad first impression", he replied charmingly as he bent down to grab his boxers that were conveniently laying right by his angel's feet. "Where do you work, anyway? What do you do?"

He watched her look around in an effort to help him find his elusive clothes. A few seconds later, she bent down when she found the sweater he had the night before and threw it at him gently.

He caught the article of clothing and hastily put it on. "We don't have to do this," he heard her chuckle softly as he pulled his hair out of his sweater.

"Do what?"

"This", she stated plainly. He guessed that she must've seen the confused look on his face, so she explained further. "Polite conversation—asking shallow questions in an effort to try to get to know each other in the rushed hours of the awkward morning after. We don't have to do it."

"But I want to do it," he replied simply. "Actually, I want to get you back into that bed to remind you of how well we actually know each other already, but I can settle for a nice cup of coffee before we part ways... for today."

She laughed. "Okay, crazy man. Whatever you say. I'm still late, though. So I'm going to go take that shower now. It was very nice to meet you, Mr. Himura."

"Kenshin", he corrected, his smile growing even wider as he did so. "If I get to call you Kaoru, then you get to call me Kenshin."

"Alright then. Kenshin." she grinned. Kaoru grabbed the sheets from around her and turned to run into her bathroom to take a rushed shower. "It was nice meeting you! Have a nice life!"

The redhead laughed and bent down again to try to find his pants. It was an interesting morning, and he had a feeling that life was going to get so much better for him from this day on.

* * *

><p>It took him an hour to get out of the strange house. He found his pants laying rumpled on the floor just outside of Kaoru's bedroom door, and since his beautiful host wanted him out of the house as soon as possible, he didn't bother going back inside the room to try to tidy up a little.<p>

It wasn't as though his effort would've ended up anywhere though, he mused. The entire house—or at least what he's seen of it—was a mess. There were unpacked boxes everywhere, and clothes were strewn out all over the place as though the woman literally just dragged her things into the house and changed out of her clothes to go straight to the bar where he met her the night before. It made him wonder about where this girl was from, since it was obvious that she just moved in. He actually had a lot of questions for her, but he didn't want to intrude into her morning any more than he has already. She did say that she was late for something, and he doubted that pestering her for details about herself would've been a good idea since she was clearly in a hurry. He didn't want to give her any reason to look at him with anything else but that smile she graced him with earlier, and somehow, he knew that sticking around would've had her feeling immensely annoyed with his presence—no matter how charming he could make himself appear to be.

Still, the redhead wanted to do something nice for the woman, so he tried going into her kitchen so he could at least get a cup of hot coffee ready for them. Much to his dismay, though, the kitchen's state wasn't any better than the rest of her house. Everything was still in boxes, and it would've taken him more time than he had to find her coffee maker and a couple of mugs. It frustrated him to know that there was absolutely no reason for him to stick around her house to at least get him to stay at least until after she showered. So he resigned himself with just trying to find some time in his busy schedule to drop by her house again for a friendly visit within that week.

As one of Manhattan's best attending cardio surgeons, time was not something that he often had to spare. In the three years that he's been working in NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, there was always one surgery or another that needed his attention—effectively thinning out his social circle to people whom he worked with. Although New York is known as one of the best cities in the world in terms of giving its occupants a fantastic night life, the only places he ever enjoyed visiting were those that were within a fifty-mile radius of his house and the hospital. So he didn't really have a lot of chances to meet exciting new people—much less, women.

Not that he minded, though. His friendship with Sanosuke Sagara, the country's top orthopedic surgeon who had the same attending status as he did in NewYork-Pres, provided him with more entertainment than he could ever need. Making sure that his best friend didn't end up passing out in their favorite bar was enough of a hobby for him, so he didn't really find it necessary to try to find other people that he could spend his free nights with. That is, until the night before, when he found another much more appealing way to pass the time.

They were out for their usual post-shift drink when Sano started to complain about the lack of romance in Kenshin's life. Apparently, his single status despite being one of the top surgeons in the country and having a face that was "too pretty to be stuck within the four walls of an operating room" was severely disturbing, and Sano felt that it was his job to correct the unnatural happening.

Kenshin laughed it off and claimed that his relationship with his work was enough for him, and that he didn't need a woman butting into his business and demanding him to spend less time operating and more time trying to make her happy. After all, his last relationship didn't exactly end well, and he absolutely refused to have to live through it again—not that Sano was aware of his romantic adventures prior to his moving to the city the year prior.

Five glasses of scotch later, and Sano's complaining took a turn for the worse when he started bugging Kenshin about _at least _talking to a possible prospect before they left the bar that night. Normally, the redheaded surgeon would've just shrugged off his demands in favor of going home since it was obvious that they were both feeling a bit braver than usual because of the alcohol they've consumed, but something—or rather, someone, settling down onto the edge of the bar caught his attention. It was perfect, too, because Sano was just telling him that there was no way that he was letting Kenshin stop drinking unless he approached someone in the next ten minutes.

He quickly finished his remaining scotch in one big gulp and gave Sano a quick pat on the back as a goodbye, ignoring his friend's extremely loud and embarrassing whoops of delight, before making his way to the raven-haired beauty that caught his eye.

She was even more beautiful up close. It didn't matter that she was in a plain pair of jeans, a white shirt, and that she wore a ragged-looking baseball cap in the middle of the night. If anything, he liked her outfit even more because it didn't take attention away from the way her skin seemed to glow in the dim lights of the bar.

He walked up to her just as she was ordering her poison for the night—a shot of tequila, so he immediately took the opportunity to swoop down on her.

* * *

><p>"<em>That goes onto my tab, Tae." He said to the petite bartender who was conversing with the woman in the baseball cap. "And I'd like a scotch for me, if you don't mind. Neat."<em>

_The bartender's eyes grew wide in surprise at the interruption, but quickly regained its warmth when she saw who interrupted her conversation with her new customer. _

"_I haven't heard of you doing anything like this before, Dr. Himura." Tae observed amusedly as she nodded to him in greeting._

_He approached the two ladies and took the empty seat beside the beautiful woman. "Well, it's not every day that you get to see women as gorgeous as your little friend here." He replied charmingly._

_Kenshin heard an ungraceful scoff come from beside him, and he turned to look at its source, barely hearing the brief "good luck" that Tae threw at him before moving away to fix the female stranger's drink._

"_You're quite the rude one, aren't you?" he heard her say. He was trying to catch her eye, but she was too busy putting her phone back in her pocket._

"_I don't think it's rude to want to welcome a new face into my favorite bar." He explained._

_She looked up at him then and he was yet again surprised to see bright blue eyes staring up at him. The brightness from her sapphire orbs were such a huge contrast from her raven hair and pale skin that for a moment, he was completely blown away._

"_Do you own this bar?" she asked, her brows rising in genuine curiosity._

_He regained his senses then, and he managed to put his smile back in place before replying, "No. I just spend a lot of time here, so I've pretty much seen everyone who comes here at least once."_

"_Well, I just moved here, so it's my first time here." She gave him a pointed stare before continuing, "You just interrupted me from making my first friend."_

"_Oh. I'm sorry."_

"_You don't look sorry." She mumbled._

"_You're right, I'm not," he chuckled. "I guess this means the spot's still open then? For being your first friend, I mean."_

_The woman gave him a bemused glance. "For you? I don't think so." _

"_Why not?"_

"_Because you're obviously here for something, and I highly doubt that involves us becoming friends."_

_He pretended to be offended at her insinuation. "That's a bit arrogant, don't you think? I haven't done anything to make you believe that. What if I really just wanted to befriend you?"_

_She laughed and looked away as she thanked Tae for bringing her the drink she ordered. "Guys with faces like yours don't approach women in bars just to make friends."_

"_Why?" he asked, his charm creeping back into his voice. "What's my face like?"_

"_I think we both know I'm not answering that question." She replied with a grin._

_They fell into a comfortable silence then, with Kenshin sneaking side-glances at the woman beside him, watching her silently enjoying the ambiance that was surrounding them as she drank her tequila in one big gulp. She gestured for another one before turning towards the redhead beside her to give him a meaningful glare, daring him to tell the bartender that he'll be paying for her drink again. He chuckled and raised his palms in surrender, and he watched her smile before looking way from him to thank Tae for bringing her drink quickly._

"_Cheers." She said, raising her shot glass at Kenshin. As soon as he raised his glass in return, watching her gulp down her drink as he took a sip of his scotch. She gestured for another shot and his brows shot up in amusement._

_He grinned. "Is my presence that horrible for you to want to get hammered tonight?"_

"_My world doesn't revolve around you, stranger." She mumbled, silently thanking Tae once more after the bartender slid yet another shot glass filled with tequila down to her._

"_Oh? Why all the drinks, then? Trying to get over someone?"_

"_More like trying to get over a stressful day." She replied, sighing as she did so before pushing her head back as she drank and reveling in the burning sensation she got after swallowing the liquid. "Moving is shit."_

_He nodded. "Yeah, I know how you feel. I went through the same thing when I moved here a year ago." His grin went back into place. "Lucky for you, I'd be happy to help you get acquainted with the city… I can even help you unpack, if you'd like."_

_She scoffed again. "No thanks. I don't allow strangers into my house. And I most certainly don't enjoy spending the day with someone I met in a bar. That's how girls end up dead, you know."_

_He was about to reply with a witty remark when a loud crash made the two turn around in surprise. The redhead groaned upon seeing what caused the commotion—or rather, who was in the middle of the said commotion. _

"_Your friend?" Kaoru asked, mirth swallowing her bright sapphire eyes._

"_Unfortunately." He murmured. He watched as Sano tried but failed to get up from his rather disgusting position on the floor, his legs sprawled out in front of him, and a broken glass of what he knew was scotch scattered by his left hand._

"_I'm fine!" Sano yelled at the people who were trying to assist him as he shakily pushed himself onto his two feet, shoving off the hands of the tall man who had his arms under the doctor's armpits to help pull him up. "You get your filthy hands off of me, you—you… giant, you." _

_Kenshin sighed, standing up and gearing himself for the task of driving his friend to his apartment. "I have to go push him off a bridge now." He muttered before looking at his companion with hope in his eyes. "But before I leave, is there any chance I can get your number?"_

_She shook his head, grinning at his misfortune._

_He sighed again, but smiled at her amused face. "It was worth a shot. I'm going now. Bye."_

_The woman glanced behind her, her eyes lighting up at what was sure to be an interesting scene. "I don't think you have to go anywhere. Your friend's here."_

_The redheaded surgeon turned pale at what she said, his eyes widening in shock as he turned around to face Sano. _

"_Ah, Kenshiiiin." His best friend sighed, putting his arm around his best friend's shoulders. "Nice to see ya got yourself a little Missy here!", he gestured towards Kaoru._

_The woman turned towards the drunken man in front of her, clearly amused at his slurred language. "Hi.", she greeted._

"_Well hello, Missy! Aren't ya the pretty one." Sano replied as he pushed his friend away from him, opting to put his arm around the woman's shoulders instead. "Now, I gotta tell ya. This man here hasn't really… gotten any for the longest time. So I'm gonna trust ya to take really good care of him, eh?"_

_Kaoru chuckled. "I'm not taking care of anyone tonight. So I suggest you remove your arm… or I'm going to have to remove it for you."_

"_Woooah!" the tall surgeon exclaimed, immediately taking his arm from around her and taking two steps back and away from her, stumbling onto Kenshin as he did so. "Feisty, eh? No need to get violent now, Missy. But I'm tellin' ya. Yer gonna be missin' out if you don't give my good man a roll in the sack."_

_Kenshin blushed angrily at his friend's insinuation. "Shut up, Sagara. C'mon," he said as he shoved his friend away from the woman and towards the bar's exit. "The bouncers are on their way over here and I don't want you beating anyone up tonight. Hiko'd kill you if you injure yourself again."_

"_Dying to get rid of me already?" Sano said, feigning a look of hurt and clutching his chest. "Bros before hoes, man! Always!"_

_The redhead rolled his eyes before proceeding to give his friend another harsh shove, making the other man stumble onto a table with a few men enjoying their beers. "It was nice to meet you, Miss. Hope you enjoy the city life." He bid at the woman. He turned towards his drunk friend again and kept shoving him until they were out of the bar._

"_I can kill you right now, Sanosuke. I swear to God I can kill you right now and make it look like an accident."_

_He heard Sano mumble something in reply, but he was far too annoyed and tired to bother trying to understand what his companion said._

_When they finally reached his car, he gave another frustrated sigh before pressing the button on his keys that would unlock the doors to his vehicle. He grabbed a fistful of his friend's shirt and pushed him roughly inside the backseat of his car, watching him fall against the leather seat._

_Kenshin was just about to step into the open door that would grant him access to the driver's seat when he felt three gentle taps on his right shoulder. Upon turning, he was surprised to feel gentle lips fall against his as the woman before him placed two soft hands on both sides of his face._

_It only took him a few moments before he closed his eyes to enjoy the attention that this mystery woman was giving him. He snaked his arms around her petite frame, pulling her closer and immediately taking charge of their passionate kiss. When the need for air became too much, the couple pulled away from each other and gently leaned their foreheads against one another's. He was greatly pleased to find a pair of familiar sapphire eyes locked onto his, mirth and a sexy amount of confidence shining in her gaze._

"_Get out, Sanosuke." He said loudly, pulling one of his arms away from around the woman to bang at the door to his backseat. "You're taking the cab tonight."_

* * *

><p>Now, here he was, parking outside of the hospital and trying to shake off thoughts of the mysterious woman that he was with just an hour ago. He was going to have to postpone his daydreams until the end of the day, since he remembered that he had three major surgeries lined up.<p>

He grabbed his briefcase and coat from his passenger seat and opened his car door so he could step out of his vehicle and expose himself to the cold wind that was blowing across the parking lot. Upon entering the hospital, he went straight to the attending's lounge where he placed his things into his locker and grabbing his lab coat so he could put it on.

"Ugggh." He heard someone groan from behind him. He turned around and grinned at seeing his best friend's pale face and generally tired stature. "What the fuck did I do last night?"

"Why do you even bother asking that question every time this happens to you, Sanosuke? You know what you did." Kenshin replied amusedly.

"A bit of sympathy from my friend would be nice—especially if said friend threw me out of his car so he could fuck around with some girl."

The redhead chuckled. "You deserved that. You almost made me lose her 'cause of your drunken antics, you bastard."

"Hey, hey. No need for language. You got her in the end didn't ya?" Sano mumbled.

He hmmed in response, not wanting to share his wonderful night with the disheveled-looking man. The two doctors fell silent as they fixed their respective cups of coffee, wanting to sit down to enjoy them before submerging themselves into the rush of the morning.

"I heard Hiko hired a new resident." The taller doctor muttered before taking a huge gulp of his hot coffee. "Some chick from Boston that's supposed to be brilliant. I heard they call her Lucifer from where she's from."

Kenshin chuckled. "Lucifer?"

"Yeah. Crazy, right? Apparently she's so tough she made all four of her interns cry on their first day. Not to mention she's a robot—_and _she loves breaking attendings piece by piece in their own O.R.s." Sano shivered. "I hope to God I'll never have to work with her."

"She can't be that bad."

Sano scoffed. "Let's see you work with her, then. I bet those sappy eyes of yours won't have any effect on that woman. She's tough as nails. She might even be on the same level as Chief Hiko."

"Sanosuke, we all know nobody's as tough as the chief of surgery. It's his job to be a rock."

"Whatever, man. Believe what you want to believe. All I know is that I'm gonna be hiding from that chick for_ever_."

Kenshin chuckled again. It was strange for Sano to be this afraid of a resident he's never met. He's heard of nicknames for the really good doctors around the country, but he doesn't think he's ever heard of someone called _Lucifer_. Surely the people she's worked with before just overreacted—and he's pretty sure the interns that cried just screwed up and got reprimanded for whatever they did wrong. Interns, after all, were known to be clueless during their first year in big hospitals.

A scuffling sound followed by a string of curses made the two surgeons turn towards the door, the two of them wondering at who could possibly sound that harassed at this time of the day. They waited for the door to open, curious as to what was going on.

After a couple of minutes, the door burst open and admitted entrance to a disheveled-looking woman, her shiny black hair loose and wild around her face as she bent to fix her crooked high heel.

"I'm so sorry," they heard her say. "It's my first day and I'm lost. Would you mind telling me where the residents are supposed… to…"

When she looked up at the two surgeons, all three of their mouths fell open in shock at seeing each other.

'_Well, this is interesting.'_

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Well, here it is. This fic is definitely going to be lighter than _It Is What It Is_, but I hope you will all enjoy it nonetheless. I'm still trying to figure out just what style I should use for this, so please bear with me.

I'm excited to hear what you all think, and as always, I'm very open to suggestions for how this will progress.

Cheers!


	2. 2: Kaoru

**Author's Note: **This was fun to write. I hope you'll have fun reading it too.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Rurouni Kenshin, or any of its characters. All information regarding the institutions that will be mentioned in this story are fictional. This is being written purely for entertainment.

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><p><strong>Relevance<br>****Chapter 2**

**Kaoru**

Kaoru is not a bad person.

On the contrary, she believes that she is a good person—a very good person, at that. She's a _doctor_, for fuck's sake. She saves lives on a regular basis, she doesn't have any criminal records—except for the one time that she was caught speeding by the interstate, and she donates her fair share to charitable organizations. She is a _good _person.

So her actions in _this _life couldn't possibly have merited such punishment. She couldn't help but resent the previous owner of her soul because she was pretty sure that he or she was the one who was responsible for what was happening to her right now. It was horrible. In her book, it's _inhumane_.

She didn't usually sleep with random men. She's actually very much aware of the proven fact that nothing good could ever possibly come from someone you meet at a bar. But the man who approached her the night before was just so _pretty_; his silky red hair shone wonderfully under the dim lights of the bar, his violet eyes were so warm and gentle and friendly while he was speaking to her, and that _face_—oh _God_, that face. His features were rather feminine, but they were not any less striking—and they were only enhanced by the cross-shaped scar that he had on his left cheek.

Could she really be blamed for wanting to be held by such a wonderful specimen of the human species? Especially since she didn't consider herself as someone who would ever be noticed by someone such as him. She isn't insecure or anything, but she knows who she is and what she has to offer, and what she has in terms of the physical department are features that are considered average. She had her fair share of lovers and one night stands back in Boston, but none who ever fell on the same scale as the attractive redhead did.

What she _is _though, is a brilliant surgeon; she breezed through med school thanks to her photographic memory, every resident she worked under in Massachusetts General Hospital gave her outstanding recommendations, and it was NewYork-Presbyterian's Chief of Surgery himself who invited her to work here—with a wonderful compensation package, if she may say so herself. She also loves taking pro bono cases because they're usually the ones filled with challenges, and she feels that it's reasonable for her to be excited by them since she gets to hit two birds with one stone in terms of self-fulfillment.

But she digresses. The point is that she is a _good _person. And she did not deserve to have slept with a man who apparently worked in the same hospital as she did; and as if the universe hasn't played enough of a joke on her, was actually one of the _Attendings_ there.

"Hey." Kenshin smiled at her once they all got a moment to process the situation. He was obviously very pleased with what he was seeing and she would've paid any amount of money just so she could have the chance to smack that silly grin right off of his face.

She cleared her throat after securing her shoe and stood up to her full height, running her hand through her raven locks as she did so. "Good morning, Doctors. It's lovely to meet you", she said with a graceful smile.

Sano chuckled and gave a long whistle. "Who'da thunk we'd see you _here _of all places, eh Missy? You didn't tell us you were a doctor too. It would've been way more interesting if you did."

"Oh I think it was interesting enough, Dr…?"

"Sagara." He replied confidently. "Sanosuke Sagara at your service—but you can call me Sano. I run the orthopedic surgery team here."

She grinned, feigning smugness as she tried to ignore her racing heart. "Ah. Well, Dr. Sagara, I wouldn't have had the chance to tell you I was a surgeon last night, anyway; though I highly doubt you would've remembered it seeing as how you already were piss-ass drunk by the time you approached me."

His laughter made her smile, but it was the way that he clutched his head in obvious agony a few moments later that made her chuckle.

"So, Dr. Kamiya," Kenshin interjected, his eyes filled with amusement as he took in her professional appearance. "What brings you over to our side of the town?"

She chose to ignore his question and focus on Sano's pathetic form. If she pretended he didn't exist, then maybe he'll get the point and just leave her alone. "I'm sorry for bothering you, but would you mind telling me where Chief Seijuro's office is? The residents are supposed to be meeting there and I got… lost."

"Obviously." Sano scoffed. He stood up, bringing his cup of coffee along with him. "We'll take you there. We have to be there too, anyway; might as well drag you along with us so we can make the proper introductions."

She smiled gratefully at him and followed him out the door. "Thanks," she smiled gratefully. "The nurses are bitches here. I think they thought I was an intern."

"Well, no offense, Missy, but you kinda seemed like one. Running in here like a banshee and all, that is."

"I resent that. I had a long night, and I'm late. I have reason to panic."

"I'd say." Kenshin commented with a smirk from where he appeared beside her. "I bet someone interesting kept you up all night."

Sano's booming laughter made her cheeks burn in embarrassment and indignation. What the hell did he think he was playing at? "I don't believe you were part of our conversation, Dr. Himura."

"Ah, she remembers my name." He replied joyfully. "I wonder if you can remember more than that."

Fed up with his presence, Kaoru pushed the redhead into the wall, her right arm pushing into his chest and near his neck. The occupants of the hallway they were in all stopped what they were doing to stare at the spectacle before them. Their eyes widened in varying degrees of surprise and horror as they digested the fact that this strange girl was pushing _Dr. Himura _into a wall. Sano, on the other hand, stood calmly behind them, watching the situation with amusement in his eyes and trying to not laugh at what he was seeing

"Listen to me, and listen well, you brute," she hissed into his face, making sure that nobody but him could hear what she was saying. "What happened last night was a _mistake_; a huge, gigantic, misjudgment. Obviously, I thought you were a stranger whom I'd never see nor have to interact with again. Had I known you'd be working here—as an _attending_, no less, I would've stayed as far away from you as I could. I'm a professional, and I sincerely hope that you have enough _decency _to be one too. I'm going to forget what happened. As of this moment, I never met you in a bar, I've never talked to you, and I've never even so much as _breathed _anywhere near you before. Got it?"

She watched his eyes fill with amusement, and she felt his chuckles reverberate through his chest. _God_.

"What if I don't want to forget?" he whispered, smirking.

"That's not really your choice, is it?" she huffed before letting him go. She walked away from the two surgeons, leaving them just standing there to watch her as she took step after step in an effort to put more distance between them.

"She's going to be a lot of fun." Sano chuckled as he took a sip of his coffee.

Kenshin, whose eyes were the brightest they've been ever since he moved to New York, smiled delightedly. Kaoru was nearing the end of the hallway, and he was quite sure that she wouldn't know if she should turn left or right.

"Undoubtedly."

"Sagara!" she yelled, frustrated. The hallway opened into a whole new other one and she didn't want to waste any more time trying to figure out where she should go when there was an obvious solution to her problem right behind her.

"Coming, Missy!" Sano called out.

* * *

><p>"You're late."<p>

The three of them were standing inside Hiko Seijuro's office, watching as the man stared up at them from behind his table with a stony expression on his face. Sano stood silently by the doorway since he was the last person to enter the room, while Kenshin sat on the couch across Hiko's table. Kaoru saw both of them cringe at the chief's harsh tone from her peripheral vision, and smiled internally at seeing how scared they were of the man she was sitting adjacent from. The chair she was reclined on was rather comfortable, and she was very happy to know that it was since she was quite sure that she'd be spending a lot of time using the said furniture during her stay in the hospital.

She scoffed. "I wouldn't have been if your staff were decent human beings, or if you gave me directions to your office."

Kenshin and Sano's eyes widened comically in shock when they heard her tone. It was obvious that not a lot of people talked back to the esteemed senior surgeon, and for a bit, she got worried that she might've seemed overconfident and that she'd be fired on her very first day. She steeled herself at what his response was going to be, but then she figured that if he wouldn't be able to take her attitude then maybe this hospital wouldn't be the place for her after all. She was not someone that would be bullied or scared to express herself. If he didn't like her, then so be it. She could always go back to Boston.

Chief Seijuro's eyes were appraising as he watched her, searching for any sign of weakness in her blank stare. "Excuse me?"

"Your staff." She repeated. "If I were a dying patient and I asked for directions to anywhere in this hospital, I probably would've spent the rest of my short life walking around, looking for wherever it is that I'm supposed to be."

The chief sighed. "You're not bleeding, and you obviously look healthy. They probably thought you were some self-important idiot trying to sue the hospital. God knows we get enough of those bastards every damn day."

"I heard. Your hospital has quite the reputation where I'm from. I thought they were exaggerating, but now that I'm here… well, I see why that's been happening."

Hiko gave an annoyed grunt in response before turning towards the other two occupants of the room. "You two. What the hell are you doing here? Why aren't you busy slicing someone open?" he asked harshly.

"We brought her here." Kenshin replied simply. "She stumbled her way into the lounge, and we thought we'd be helpful."

"I'm not _paying _you to be helpful to bumbling idiots like her. I'm _paying _you to operate on sick or dying patients. Get out."

"You're not even going to introduce us? Is she here to assist?" the redhead asked, unfazed by the rough treatment he received from the old man.

Before the chief could answer, four people in their blue scrubs hidden underneath white lab coats entered the room. They were quite the collection of people, Kaoru mused. One girl had a serious and stern look painted across her porcelain face, her long black hair tied into a high and neat ponytail. She exuded an amazing amount of confidence—as if every move she made was well-calculated and thought out, making her steps and movements look stiff, but sure.

The other girl standing beside her had short, cropped hair, and Kaoru watched as her brown eyes shyly took the room in. She looked friendly enough, but she seemed so nervous about having all these people around her that Kaoru wondered about what she would be like inside an operating room—where the surgeons were expected to take charge and to not appear weak in front of any of their staff.

There were two men standing beside the women, and to be honest, Kaoru was fascinated by them. One of them had a head full of shockingly blonde hair that it almost seemed white. He was rather tall, so he looked down at her curiously from where she was seated in front of the Chief's desk. The other guy… seemed creepy. He was smiling politely enough, but Kaoru had a feeling that there was something a bit off about him. He seemed cold, and his eyes were a bit too empty for her liking.

"What part of be here at_ exactly _eight a.m. do you idiots not understand?" Hiko growled, glaring at the four newcomers.

Blondie gave his superior a sheepish grin. "Sorry, boss. We got held up down at the E.R.."

"Why? Anything interesting come in?" Sano interrupted. "Why weren't we paged for consults?"

"It was nothing." The stern-faced girl said. "Just a bunch of drunk idiots with a few scrapes and bruises. Nothing that would've needed your attention."

Hiko gave another grunt, and the entire room turned to face him. He was obviously getting angrier and angrier by the second, and although most of the room's occupants seemed to not be unfazed by it, Tae looked like she was about to crack from the pressure of it all.

"This is Dr. Kaoru Kamiya. She flew in from Boston, and she'll be a part of our surgical team from now on." He announced.

The surgeons gave each other confused glances and tried to see if any of them knew what was going on. It was rare for NewYork-Presbyterian to hire someone who wasn't trained in and by the hospital's senior members themselves. They believed in utilizing and honing the skills of _home-grown surgeons_, so to speak, since this will ensure that they truly have the best of the best. So to hear their chief inform them that someone will be joining their prestigious team was quite a shock for them.

"She's a resident—" their chief continued.

"Sorry," the blonde-haired man interrupted. "She's a _what?_"

Hiko sighed. "A resident, Yukishiro. Do you understand that or has your meager surgical skills driven you deaf?"

"No, Sir." He mumbled as he cleared his throat. "Sorry."

"She will be a resident in this hospital, which means that like you four," the chief pointed to the newcomers. "she will report to and assist attendings with whatever they choose for her to assist them with. The difference is that she already has an area of specialization which she will be practicing in this hospital."

"Wait." The stiff woman called. "If she's a resident, then why does she get to practice whatever she wants to practice? We've never been given that opportunity before. As far as I know, only the chief—" she stopped suddenly, feeling an ice-cold weight suddenly settle in her chest.

"Yes, Takani. Kamiya here will be your new chief resident."

A palpable silence filled the room and for a moment, Kaoru wondered at the reason behind it. Back in Boston, it wasn't really that much of a shock when their superiors would bring in a surgeon from another hospital to take charge of their residents. So she really didn't understand why this was the case for this particular hospital. From what she was able to gather from Hiko when he invited her to be a part of their team, it appears that his residents were in dire need of a guiding hand, and since she was never one to back away from a challenge, she accepted.

She noticed that the other surgeons were giving this… Takani person strange and nervous glances. Did the stiff woman really not react well to having new people on her team? Well, if that were the case, then Kaoru would just have to view this as another challenge. They had to be a team here. It wouldn't bode well for them if their residents were far too competitive to even think about working together. Saving lives was not easy, and having to constantly watch your back for people who have the ability to turn on you will only make it that much harder.

"Chief… resident?" Takani whispered, her face pale and her eyes wide in shock at what she just heard.

Finally deciding that she had enough pussy-footing around, Kaoru stood up to her full height and faced her four subordinates, gracing them with a friendly smile as she did so. "Yes, it would appear so. It's lovely to meet you all. I'm excited to work with you."

It was the blonde-haired man who first broke out of his surprised stupor and approached her outstretched hand, enveloping it in his warm one as he introduced himself. "Enishi Yukishiro," he said with a smile. "Second year resident. We all are, actually." He explained, gesturing to his other comrades.

She turned her attention towards the other man who walked up to her. "Soujirou Seta."

Nodding as she memorized his face and name, she turned to the third member of the group and asked, "And you are?"

The other girl jumped up in surprise and had to catch her breath before she was able to shake Kaoru's hand. "Tsubame Sanjou. Pleasure to meet you."

Finally, she turned to face the last member of the group. It was a bit odd that the stiff woman was still looking at their Chief as though he suddenly grew another head, but she paid it no mind. If the hospital's surgical team were all in the office, then that meant that there were no surgeons in the wing; and based on her experience, surgeons _always _had to be moving around the hospital.

"Takani, is it?" she greeted kindly.

Kaoru's voice seemed to have broken the tense doctor's stupor, and she watched as the other woman shook herself to regain her bearings before looking coldly at her. "Yes. Megumi Takani."

"It's nice to meet you." Kaoru said with a smile, stretching her arm to shake Megumi's hand. Her eyes flashed when Megumi made no move to mimic her polite greeting as an obvious sign of disrespect, but she forced herself to shrug it off. It was her first day here, after all, and she didn't want to make unnecessary enemies.

Seeing that his team were now well-acquainted with each other, Hiko cleared his throat before standing up to address his employees. "Great. Social niceties are over. Now get back to work. We have patients and none of them are going to get any better if their doctors are busy fucking around."

Kaoru chuckled, but followed the other doctors out of the office. She saw Megumi stay behind, clearly waiting for the rest of them to leave before she talked to Chief Hiko. It was starting to get blaringly obvious that there was tension building between the chief and the resident, but she opted not to get herself involved… yet.

Upon closing the door, the three remaining residents stood calmly before her as they waited for their assignments for the day. Since Kaoru was in charge of directing them to their respective duties, she immediately got to work. Enishi handed her a clipboard that she didn't realize he was holding, but accepted it graciously nonetheless.

"Okay, what do we have for today?" she asked rhetorically as she looked over the chart she was handed. When she got all the necessary details, she didn't even bother to look at the three doctors as she told them what they'd be doing for the rest of the day. "You," she pointed to Tsubame. "are going to be assisting Dr. Himura with his coronary artery bypass grafting this afternoon. You," she said, pointing to Soujirou. "will be with Dr. Sagara. And you," she said as she turned her finger onto Enishi. "will be running pre-ops and post-ops. I'll be in the NICU to get a full grasp on the facilities you have. Neonatal's the only service you have here that we didn't have in Boston."

She paused to look up at the dumbstruck faces of her residents. "What? Is there a problem?"

"Sorry, um, Dr. Kamiya." Tsubame said shyly. "It's just that… well—"

Enishi interrupted his colleague in obvious frustration of her stammering. "What she's trying to say is that those aren't our usual assignments."

"Oh?" Kaoru asked, amused at what they were saying. "What's the status quo, then?"

"I'm usually assigned to Dr. Sagara since his field's the one I'm most interested in. Soujirou here hangs around neuro with Dr. Oibore—who, I assume, you haven't met yet. Tsubame's in charge of the post-ops and pre-ops; and Megumi's always with Dr. Himura for cardiothoracic cases."

Just as Enishi was about to finish explaining their usual assignments to Kaoru, the Chief's door opened to reveal a rather flushed-looking Megumi. It was clear that whatever was discussed in the room wasn't pleasant, and the three residents she was addressing earlier cringed as the stiff woman stood beside them.

"Good of you to join us, Dr. Takani." Kaoru greeted. "You'll be working at the pit today. I already gave the others their assignments, so you can just ask them where they'll be if ever you'll need any of them."

There was a tense pause as Megumi processed what her superior told her. "Excuse me?" she asked haughtily after a while.

"The pit, Dr. Takani. That's where you'll be for the rest of the day." The chief resident replied simply before looking back down at the chart she was holding.

Megumi took a deep breath before speaking, her face deadly calm and her eyes flashing with hate towards the new addition to their team. "I don't think you know this yet, but I usually work with Dr. Himura on—"

"Oh, I understand. Don't worry, Dr. Yukishiro here has already informed me of what you… _usually_ do around here." She said with a smile. She crossed her arms in front of her, still holding the chart in one hand, as she addressed the four residents with a serene smile on her face. "As far as I know, junior residents aren't allowed to take on any specializations yet, so I don't care what you _usually _do around here. Exposing yourself to different fields will help you become better surgeons. So what you _used to do _is something we'll have to correct, and it's something that I've already discussed with the chief before I even came here."

She paused. "Also, you seem to be forgetting that _I _was assigned as the chief resident, which means that _I _will be responsible for your education, in the same way that _I _will be responsible if any of you ever fuck up. So," she gave each of the doctors a pointed look. "_I _get to tell you what to do now. Is that understood?"

By the looks on the junior residents' faces, they were obviously surprised by the amount of authority in her voice. Her smile contradicted the way that she was speaking to them, but her eyes told them that she meant everything she said. Having nothing else to say, they simply nodded to indicate that they understood what she said.

"I'm never assigned to the pit." Megumi spat.

Kaoru's sapphire eyes flashed angrily at hearing what the doctor said, but kept her voice calm and steady as she answered. "Well, now _I'm_ assigning you to the pit. If you have any more problems with that, you can bring it up with the chief."

Stunned at being told off, the fox-like woman had no other choice but to nod in acquiescence before she walked away from the group.

"Do we have any more problems?" Kaoru asked sweetly. When they shook their heads, she nodded. "Go."

She took a deep and calming breath as she watched her junior residents scurry away from her to do their assigned tasks. It was only her first day in NewYork-Presbyterian and somehow, she knew that her stay in the hospital wouldn't be as smooth-sailing as she'd hoped. She only prayed that she'd be able to get a good grip on things before anything terrible happened.

"Told 'ya." She heard Sano mutter from behind her. "_Lucifer_."

* * *

><p>She's had her share of long shifts, but this one definitely cut the cake.<p>

It wasn't like she had to deal with anything extraordinary during her first 48 hour shift. The surgeries that she assisted with were relatively minor and went by smoothly, there were no trauma cases—which meant that the pressure she had to deal with wasn't as bad as what she usually dealt with during her stay in Boston, the hospital staff were a lot friendlier to her when they found out she was the Chief Resident, and she even got the pleasure of putting one of her residents into her proper place.

She chuckled a bit as she remembered Megumi's appalled face when she repeatedly told her that she would be assigned to the pit for the rest of the week. Call it her sadistic side, but she loved getting a chance to tell people where exactly they could shove it whenever they made her feel like they were better than her, especially when they _weren't_. Don't get her wrong—it wasn't something that she flaunted or craved. But, like she said, she knew herself. She knew what she deserved and how much she should be respected and she'll be damned if she won't hold onto that with all her might. She worked hard to get to where she is now.

But her rather harsh interactions with her residents weren't what made her feel the way she was feeling now. No, it's that damned redhead that kept on following her like a lost puppy the whole day. It was like he made it his own personal mission to annoy the hell out of her whenever he had free time—which he apparently had a lot of since, like her, there weren't any major surgeries that were assigned to him for his shift; his shift that was only supposed to last for a total of 24 hours, but thanks to his oh so _generous _nature, was doubled to match hers.

So most of her two-day stay in the hospital involved a lot of ducking around corridors in an effort to avoid his unbelievably arrogant presence; although it didn't really get her that far because he obviously knew the hospital better than she did. Besides, the cardio attending popped out of the most outrageous places—in stairwells, in elevators, in the residents' locker room; hell, she even bumped into him on the way out of the restroom once! It was like he had a personal tracking device on her which he abused to no end.

"Hey, Tae." She greeted as she sat down on one of the booths in the same bar that she was in a few nights ago. She was slowly beginning to understand why it was such a popular establishment among the doctors in NewYork-Presbyterian: it was the closest place that served strong alcohol within the general vicinity of the hospital, the staff were friendly—but not to the point that they'd impose on your evening, and its atmosphere was a far cry from the stiff environment of their workplace.

The bartender smiled pleasantly down at her new friend. "Glad to have you back here, Kaoru. How've you been so far?"

Kaoru shrugged. "As well as could be in a new city, I guess. What are you doing out here? Aren't you supposed to be busy trying to give your customers alcohol poisoning?"

"Not tonight. I'm training a new girl and I'm trying to see how she handles the pressure." Tae explained cheerily. "So, what's your poison?"

"Raspberry vodka, please. On the rocks." She sighed. "And if you could just make sure that I don't drink more than four glasses, that'd be great."

The jolly bartender smiled pityingly down at her. "Sure honey. I'll be right back with your drink."

The chief resident nodded and pushed her purse off of her lap and onto the empty space beside her. The leather seats were comfortable and she was immensely grateful for the relative privacy that she was given since she was seated in one of the darker corners of the bar. She cradled her head on her right hand and leaned on the table as she tried to stop the headache that was building in the back of her head.

"Long day?"

'_Oh for the love of—' _"I don't recall inviting you to sit with me, Himura."

Kenshin chuckled and gently placed the glass he was holding on the table. "May I sit with you, Kaoru?"

"No."

"That doesn't sound like you mean it."

She sighed out of frustration and brought her head up to give the redhead one of her best glares. She _really _didn't like being unnecessarily mean to people, but this abominable excuse for a man definitely deserved her anger. "What makes you think I don't?"

"I felt it." He smiled at her, not even looking the least bit bothered with the cold treatment he was receiving. "Call it a… connection from our activities the other night."

"I thought I told you to forget about that."

He smirked. "And I thought I told you I didn't want to forget?"

The headache that she was trying to get rid of crawled its way into her skull. She really didn't understand what was going on in the attending's brain, but she had a feeling that she wasn't going to like it if she ever found out. "Go away, Himura."

"Kenshin. And no thank you." He said cheerily.

"I really don't need this right now." She sighed again. "Why can't you just leave me alone?"

"Because you look like you need a friend. And since I'm feeling particularly magnanimous tonight," he paused when he heard her scoff. "I decided to grace you with my delightful presence."

"Where'd you get that load of bullshit?" She muttered.

"I have a lot of credible sources."

"Your mother doesn't count." She eyed the redhead warily, but her expression brightened when she saw Tae walk towards their table to give her the glass of vodka she requested for the night. The moment she felt the cold and slightly moist surface of the glass, she eagerly took a couple of sips before smiling at the bartender. She got a bit annoyed when the bartender shot Kenshin a meaningful look before winking at her, but she refused to let it show because the woman was going to be her source of alcohol for the night. And based on her previous experiences, you _never _wanted to get on a bartender's bad side.

Kenshin watched the raven-haired surgeon in front of him amusedly as he took a sip of his own drink. "Better?"

"Like you wouldn't believe." She sighed after gulping down the rest of her drink in one go.

They fell into a relatively comfortable silence then. Kaoru looked around the bar and amused herself with watching how the different patrons interacted, while Kenshin lost himself in his own thoughts as he enjoyed his drink. After about five minutes, he signaled Tae for another round of drinks for the two of them and waited patiently for her to arrive at the table with the requested beverages.

She gladly took the second glass of vodka from Tae, and for once during the entire time that he's been pestering her, she actually felt glad for his presence. Kenshin saw her slowly easing herself from her tense posture and decided to start another conversation.

"You did good today, you know." He said with a warm smile. "And I'm not just saying that because we had sex—though I won't mind if you'd want to go for another round of that."

She chuckled. "I'm going to ignore the second half of what you said for the sole purpose of attempting to be friendly with you. Thanks, though. I appreciate it."

He ignored her jab at his sad attempt at flirting and gave her a curious look. "Did you ever think you'd do otherwise?"

"Honestly? Yeah." She admitted before taking another sip of her drink. "That Takani person's quite a character."

"Sano and I figured you'd have trouble with her. She can be difficult when it comes to authoritative figures."

"Obviously." She scoffed. She took a quick glance at the people in the bar before turning her attention back to the arrogant man. "Where's Sano anyway? Aren't you two supposed to be attached at the hip?"

"Not when there's more preferable company around." He winked.

Amused at his antics, and a bit loosened up by the strong drink she was enjoying, she laughed. "Seriously? You seriously thought that line would work with me?"

"It was worth a shot. I'm still trying to figure out how I could get into your good side." Kenshin shrugged.

"Well, cheesy and overused pick-up lines definitely won't help your case."

He chuckled at her response and picked up his drink again. She felt him watching her as he took a few careful sips, so she turned her attention back to him after being a bit distracted by the rowdy group of people opposite them.

"What?" she asked.

Kenshin's eyes brightened and took on a rather predatory gleam as he decided to go for the direct approach. "Come home with me."

She scoffed. "Are you kidding me?"

"No." he shook his head before flashing her a dazzling smile which she was sure made a lot of women swoon. Unfortunately for him though, she wasn't one to be easily charmed by a brief show of, admittedly and regrettably, perfect pearly whites. "Come home with me." He said again.

"What makes you think I'll go home with you?" She retorted. She was trying to fight the amusement that she was feeling at the current flow of their conversation, but she had a feeling that he knew how he was affecting her anyway.

"Would you rather I go home with you?"

"Seriously, Himura. Were you dropped on your head as a child or something? I can't believe you're even asking me that."

He smirked again. "Kenshin, and I don't hear you saying no, Kaoru."

"It's Kamiya to you, and if that was all you needed to get off my back then, no, Himura. I won't go home with you, nor will I let you come home with me. Happy?"

He looked at her intently and for a moment she felt a bit insecure. She knew she didn't really look all that glamorous that night. She just came out of a 48-hour shift and she was pretty sure that aside from her pale skin, her eyes had at least three layers of bags under them. Her hair was disheveled under the baseball cap she was wearing the other night, and her clothes weren't any better. The moment her shift ended, she quickly changed into her favorite pair of jeans and sneakers, and a green camouflage v-neck shirt that hung a bit loosely on her torso.

"You don't mean that." He said after a long pause.

She prayed to the spirits of the universe to grant her with patience as she dealt with the smirking man before her. Deciding to take the high road by driving the conversation into a more comfortable topic, she asked. "What's wrong with Takani anyway? I never would've expected that much hostility from someone I just met."

He sighed and leaned back on his seat before answering her question. He thought about lying to her so she wouldn't worry too much about it, but opted against it. It wasn't like she had any trouble with dealing with Megumi's cold nature anyway. "She was in the running to be the next chief resident. We actually thought she was going to get it, so we were a bit shocked when you came along."

"Ah." She nodded as she processed what he said. "I see. So that's why she was so uptight when I assigned her to the pit."

"Yeah. She hasn't been down there for almost a year now, so she must've thought of it as an insult."

"What makes you think it wasn't?" she teased. She saw his eyes widen in surprise, and she couldn't help the chuckle that bubbled from her lips. "It was a joke, Himura. Did you seriously think I'm _that _immature?" She saw him open his mouth, but she continued what she was saying before he could even make a sound. "I put her there 'cause I _knew _she hasn't been down there for a long time. It helps when they go back to the basics every now and then. That way they won't forget the simple procedures when they're neck deep in big, fancy surgeries."

He eased back into his seat and smiled at her. "That's what I thought. See? Even the way we think is compatible."

"What are you trying to say, Himura?" she sighed as she waved her hand at Tae to ask for yet another glass of her drink. If she was going to survive the night, she would need more than two measly glasses.

"Kenshin." He reminded gently. "And I'm trying to get you to come home with me."

"Haven't we already been through this?"

He smiled and leaned forward so he could whisper in her ear. "I'm not going to stop until you start meaning what you say."

"You think I'm lying to you?" she whispered back as her gaze locked with his while he was leaning away from her.

"Haven't we already been through this?" he mocked with a raised brow. It was obvious that their conversation was more than entertaining for him because of the way his eyes shone, and at that point, she didn't know whether she wanted to gouge them out with a needle or if she wanted to just look at them for the rest of her life.

She laughed at his mockery and thanked Tae once more for bringing her the drink she wanted. "You're really something, aren't you, Himura?"

"I've been told that several times now, so yes." He grinned. "And it's Kenshin, Kaoru. How many times am I going to have to remind you to call me that?"

"A thousand more would do." She grinned back.

"If that means I get to spend more time with you, then I won't mind."

She chuckled. "Your ability to come up with pathetic attempts at pick-up lines astounds me. Aren't you ever going to give it up?"

He finished his third glass of scotch and looked at her smiling face, his confidence rising when he saw something in her eyes. "Not when I know it's working."

"Oh? What makes you think that?"

"You'll see." He grinned.

Their conversation lulled for a bit before they talked about safer matters. Kenshin told her more about the hospital they were both employed in, while Kaoru compared everything that he was saying to what she experienced in Boston. She was starting to think that it really was a privilege to work at such a highly acclaimed institution, and she was grateful for her previous mentors for encouraging her to transfer rather than give her reasons to try to stay with them. The previous hospital she worked for was great and all, but she knew that she was going to learn more about medicine if she went to Manhattan.

By the time a couple of hours had passed, they were both comfortable enough to talk about topics outside of their work life—although Kaoru made sure that their conversations wouldn't touch on anything too deep or too revealing of who she was. It was, after all, another reason why she wanted to rebuild herself in New York—there were ghosts in Boston that she wanted to forget.

They paid for their tabs—separately, after Kaoru threatened to maim Kenshin with a toothpick if he paid for her drinks again, and put their coats on before walking out of the bar. She could feel his overwhelming presence warming her from where he stood, and the resolve that she forcefully built up during her entire day and most of the night was starting to crumble—especially when he kept smiling at her like _that_. His eyes were glowing and she could smell his soothing cologne as he guided her towards her car.

"This is me." She smiled, slightly craning her neck to look at his face—his suddenly very attractive, and very alluring face. "I had a nice time, Himura. I don't really want to say this, but… thanks for intruding."

"Anytime, Kaoru." He chuckled as he leaned down to place a soft kiss on her cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah."

She got in her car and tried to control her suddenly raging hormones. That goodbye of his didn't do her already crumbling resolve any good because she felt his hot breath caress her cold cheek as he chuckled into her skin. It only happened for a brief moment, but the effect it had on her was astounding.

She groaned when she remembered what she'd be going home to, and it seemed as though that was the last straw for her. Steeling herself against entertaining anymore doubts, she decided to stop punishing herself and to just _give in._ What she did in her personal life was none of her colleagues' business, and it wasn't like what they did outside of work affected how they interacted with each other in the hospital professionally—as evidenced by their serious personas when she assisted him in one of his surgeries during their long shift.

She saw the redhead walking along the sidewalk, and she slowed down so she could match his pace.

'_Fuck it, whatever.'_ She thought before rolling down her window. "Kenshin!"

Surprised, the redhead paused for a moment before a smile crept up his face as he walked towards her. He leaned down so his face could be on the same level as hers before he asked amusedly, "Yeah?"

She grinned mischievously up at him. "Come home with me."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Well, here it is! It took me a while to write it 'cause every time I'd try to work on this, another story idea would suddenly pop in my head and, as I keep saying whenever I update any of my stories, I couldn't _not _write them. I hope the wait was worth it for you, though.

In case you'd get bored with waiting for the next chapter to come up, I'd like to (shamelessly) take this chance to invite you to try reading the other pieces I've written over the past couple of weeks—all of them, of course, are for Rurouni Kenshin since I am completely enamored with Kenshin and Kaoru right now. **A Wonderful Affinity for Strawberries **and **Unexpectedly Expected **basically have the same feel as this one (good vibes all the way!), while **Where Light is Found **dabbles more with the fantasy genre.

And of course, **It Is What It Is**—my longest (and most dramatic) baby yet. I'd like to think it has a complicated plot line, but I try to make it as easy to follow as possible.

Anyway, yeah. Here's the second chapter. I hope you guys liked it, and I'm so excited to hear what you think! May it be good or bad, please feel free to comment. Ideas and suggestions as to how I should proceed with this are more than welcome too.

Cheers!


	3. 3: Kenshin

**Author's Note: **Allons-y!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Rurouni Kenshin, or any of its characters. All information regarding the institutions that will be mentioned in this story are fictional. This is being written purely for entertainment.

* * *

><p><strong>Relevance<br>****Chapter 3**

**Kenshin**

The moment consciousness hit him that morning, the first thing he felt was someone's warm body enclosed in his arms. Flexing his hands a bit, he grinned to himself when he ensured that it was not his imagination and that he was, indeed, holding a woman.

He took a deep breath and smiled when the scent of jasmine-scented shampoo hit his nose, and he snuggled deeper into its source. He opened his eyes and cringed a bit when the bright sunlight glared right into his pupils, but as soon as his purple orbs were able to adjust, he rolled over onto his back to check his surroundings.

The previous night was incredible for him and his little vixen. He reveled at how responsive she was to his every touch, and grinned to himself when he remembered her moans, growls and screams. Despite the countless times that she told him how she 'felt' about him, her enthusiasm during their wild adventure obviously proved that she was lying—and he was very excited to rub that fact into her face as soon as she wakes up.

He grasped around the small dresser placed beside his side of the bed for his watch, careful not to jostle the sleeping siren beside him. They both had a long shift and he was quite sure that she wanted to get as much rest as she could. He didn't have to go back to the hospital that day, and he knew that she didn't either—unless there were any emergencies, of course—and he fully intended on staying and spending the day with her. After all, aside from the wild, hot, sex, he also _loved _teasing her to no end.

Seeing that it was only seven o'clock, he sighed happily and gently untangled his arms from around Kaoru. His breathing stopped every time she'd make a sound because he was certain that she _really _wouldn't want to be woken up so early on her first free day in a month, and while he loved poking fun at her to no end, he was fully aware that women who just woke up were not a force to be reckoned with. Once his task was successful and she curled back onto her side, he shuffled around to find his boxers so he could put them on before walking towards the floor-to-ceiling windows in the room and pulling the heavy curtains over to block out the harsh morning light.

He took a second to admire how she looked from where he was, but shook himself out of his stupor with the knowledge that he had the time to crawl back into bed with her. Smiling, he did just that and carefully pulled her over to him, following her deep and steady breathing until he was lulled back to sleep.

He was brought back to reality by the sound of the shower running three hours after he first woke up. Feeling a bit annoyed with himself at not being able to wake up before her, he brushed a hand over his face and hair as he sat up on the bed. He knew that once she got out of the shower and saw that he was up, she'd go straight into their usual routine of witty banter that focused mostly on trying to get him out of her house so she could spend the whole day relaxing by herself. But he was determined to not let her win this time—it's been a month since they first met, and as much as he enjoyed their occasional roll in the sack, he really wanted to get to know her better. He knew she was still very uncomfortable with the idea of dating, but he was confident that given enough time, he'd get her to change her mind. After all, wasn't his persistence what made her cave into his more-than-friendly advances?

Grinning as he decided to take the first step to making her realize that he was planning on disrupting their usual routine, he pulled his discarded white shirt over his head and tied his hair in a low ponytail before grabbing his keys and running over to his car. He knew that she didn't keep a lot of food in her kitchen, so he dropped by the grocery store before making his way over to her place the night before. He was still quite curious about why most of the boxes in her house were still unpacked, and why her refrigerator never had anything in it save for bottles of beer and water, a couple cartons of milk and orange juice, and the occasional pieces of fresh fruits. He tried asking her before, but she always gave him vague answers before proceeding to distract him with more pleasurable activities.

'_Not today_', he thought to himself. _'I'm going to win today.'_

He rushed back into the house and went straight to the kitchen, grinning when he realized that Kaoru still wasn't through with her shower. He set out all the ingredients he'd need for their breakfast and quickly started frying the bacon he brought as he scrambled a couple of eggs in a bowl he found.

"What are you doing?" he heard Kaoru ask from behind him.

He lowered the heat from the oven before turning around to face her with a thousand-watt smile on his face. Her hair flowed down her shoulders, still damp from the shower she just took, and she stood before him in nothing but an oversized white shirt and a pair of cotton shorts. He loved seeing her so unrefined since that meant she was comfortable enough around him to not bother with prepping herself up whenever he spent time with her, but what made him smile was the adorably curious look she had on her face.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" he replied cheerily.

Her brows scrunched together and a slight frown marred her face. Since she didn't have any make-up on, her face was quite pale under the morning light and he could clearly see the freckles that rested just above her nose. The gray circles under her eyes were a bit more visible, but he found that he didn't mind any of those imperfections. If anything, it made her more endearing in his eyes.

She huffed and walked over to the kitchen table where the rest of the breakfast ingredients were laid out. Warily, she pulled out a chair and sat down, pulling her legs up so she could wrap her arms around them and rest her chin on her knees. "I guess what I meant was, why the hell are you cooking breakfast in my house and where did you get the food? I'm pretty sure I don't have any of these things in my fridge."

He turned back around to flip the bacons and the pancakes that he was busy cooking on two different frying pans. "I'm cooking breakfast in your house because I'm hungry and I'm sure you're hungry too; and I dropped by the grocery before I came here last night. I didn't want to have to make something out of the two-week old orange and mayonnaise I found in there last time I was here."

"What makes you think you can do any of those things?" she said. Her words seemed harsh, but the tone she used was of genuine curiosity so he decided to answer honestly.

"Well, I've been spending a lot of time here so I figured you'd at least let me bring food every now and then. Our activities aren't exactly… passive."

She chuckled. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Why _don't _you keep food here, anyway? You have a perfectly good kitchen and I doubt that you'd actually opt to eat out every time you'd feel hungry. I know it gets tiring after a while."

"I haven't really had time to go grocery shopping." She sighed. "Besides, if I actually try to cook something, I won't have a house to come back to anymore. My kitchen skills are horrible."

"Ah. I finally know something about you." He smiled as he turned around to place the bacon and pancakes on a couple of plates that he laid out.

"Shut up." She grumbled and stood up to reach for something in her cupboard. "Do you want coffee or tea?"

He grinned. "Tea, please. So I guess you're not so against the idea of letting me cook breakfast here, eh?"

"If you have any sense of self-preservation, you'd stop talking now." She warned as she fixed them two mugs of hot tea.

They stayed silent for the rest of the time that Kenshin cooked most of the breakfast items he brought. After Kaoru handed him the steaming mug, she excused herself to pick up the newspaper that she subscribed to and brought it back to the kitchen. Once the food was done, they opted to continue the stretch of comfortable silence as they ate their respective meals. Kaoru read her newspaper as she ate, while Kenshin busied himself with looking around the different parts of the house that he could see.

Kaoru finished her breakfast before he did, and he could feel her sapphire eyes trying to catch his as she waited for him to take the last few bites of his meal. He grinned to himself as he switched between looking around and keeping his head bowed, dutifully avoiding her gaze to prolong their last few moments of morning peace. If the furrow between her brows was any indication, she clearly knew what he was up to.

"So…" she started when he finally finished eating. "I'm sure you must have a lot to—"

"You must not be a very private person." He mused, deliberately ignoring what she was saying.

Confused at his sudden interruption, Kaoru's eyes widened as she stared at him as though another head just popped out of his neck. "Uh… what?"

"It's just that you have a lot of floor-to-ceiling windows here, so I assume that you must not like your privacy very much."

She looked at him carefully, trying to gauge if he meant what he said as an insult or if he was just genuinely curious with her architectural preferences. Deciding that it was the latter, she shrugged. "I like natural light. Besides, in case you haven't noticed, the important parts of my house are either fenced or covered by heavy curtains. So I'm not really putting on a reality show for strangers to watch."

He considered her words and took another look around. This time, he noticed the tall fences that were placed all around her backyard, effectively blocking off her view from the outside world. As for the living room, he remembered seeing the thin cream-colored curtains that hung from the high windows.

She paused to fold her paper—an obvious indication that their amiable morning meal was now over—and looked at him meaningfully. "Anyway, as I was saying earlier, I'm sure you have a lot of things to do today. So—"

"No, actually. I don't." He grinned.

Her eyes thinned into impatient slits and she cleared her throat. "Well, if that's the case then you should probably _go _back home to rest. I have some things I was planning on doing around here, so I really should get to it."

"Oh, don't worry. I'm actually pretty rested enough. I'm feeling a bit restless, to be honest."

"Then I'm sure Sano could find something for you two to do." She glared. She was getting annoyed with his deviances to their familiar routine, and she really didn't like where their conversation was heading.

"I doubt it." He scoffed. "With the amount of alcohol he had last night, I'm pretty sure he'd be knocked out 'til tomorrow morning, at least."

"Okay, Kenshin." She sighed, giving into his obvious intent. By now, she was quite sure that he wasn't going to leave her alone, but the big question was, "What the hell do you want?"

He raised his brow. "You have a high IQ, Kaoru. I know you know what I want."

She scoffed. "Much as I'd love to spend the entire day having sex with you, I really do have a lot of things to do. So I suggest you just get going."

He looked at her intently for a while before standing up to gather the dishes that they used. "I'd love to do that too, but that's not exactly what I had in mind."

"You don't have to do those. I'll clean them when you _leave_." Kaoru grumbled. "And what exactly did you have in mind?"

"I insist. I happen to love washing dishes. I find it therapeutic." He said when she tried to reach for the faucet's nozzle.

"Really, you can just _go _and I'll take care of those."

"Really." He mocked playfully. "I don't mind."

"Well, I do." She hissed as she stood beside him. The glare she was giving him probably would've made Sano freeze in fear should he be on the receiving end of it, but Kenshin was never one to be deterred by her hateful looks. He was beginning to realize that the trick to winning her over was good old_ persistence._

He sighed, but the mirth in his eyes made it hard for Kaoru to believe that he was doing so out of frustration. "Fine. If you really want help, then you can dry the dishes."

"Fine." She muttered angrily as she roughly grabbed the dishtowel hanging beside him and started drying off the plates and utensils that he handed her.

They worked in relative silence for a while. He could feel her wary disposition, but he didn't feel the least bit worried that she'd be throwing him out anytime soon. She was much too good of a host to do so.

The silence was broken when he turned off the faucet and leaned his hip against the counter so he could look at her. "So, what are we doing today?"

"Excuse me?" she said indignantly. "I don't remember asking you to be a part of my plans."

He grinned and looked around. "I assume you'll be unpacking your things? It's been a month since you've been here and these boxes don't even look like they've been touched."

"Yeah." She replied as she hung the dishtowel back onto its hook. "Which means that I'm going to be very busy; which also means that you should _go. _I doubt you'd want to spend the whole day covered in dust and sweat."

"On the contrary, I can't think of a better way to spend the day." He smiled before leaning down and placing a chaste kiss on her lips. He turned away from her and started making his way into her living room, leaving her gaping at him as she processed what he was asking of her. "Besides, I don't see how you can finish unpacking all of these today without getting some help."

She followed in his wake and, as expected, tried to give him one more reason to leave her alone. "You don't even have any clothes to change into! You're not dressed for doing something like this."

Smiling, he placed both of his palms against the wall on either side of her head, effectively trapping her between his warm body and the cold surface of the wall. "I have clothes in my car." He whispered before dropping a gentle kiss on her right cheek. "And toiletries." He placed another kiss on her left cheek. "And I even have more food." He pressed into her then, enveloping her completely in his warmth as he leaned down to kiss her lips, making sure to move as gentle as possible as his tongue caressed hers in the loveliest of ways.

When he pulled back a couple of minutes later, he knew he was going to get his way.

"You play dirty, Himura." She scolded before sighing. "Fine. Do whatever you want, just—just don't come crying to me when you end up tired, hungry, and dirty by the end of the day."

He chuckled. "I wouldn't dream of it."

Pushing him off of herself, she walked away from him and climbed up the staircase to get ready. "I'm going to go upstairs to change. You can go ahead and shower, if you want. We'll start down here." She called down to him.

He gave himself a mental pat on the back for his achievement and jauntily ran to his car to grab his bag before making his way back and walking into the shower in her bedroom, grinning the entire time.

Maybe if he was good enough, she'll even let him leave his toothbrush behind.

* * *

><p>Despite all of Kaoru's earlier inhibitions against having him help her, he could tell that she was having as much fun as he was based on the good vibes she was emitting. Starting out had been a bit awkward at first since she apparently had a lot of boxes that she didn't want to open—much less share with him, but when she realized that he can be trusted to not snoop around when she asked him not to, she eventually let him carry some of the boxes up to her attic himself whenever she'd be busy arranging something downstairs. They had a nice system going, and he knew she was silently thankful for his help since with how things were going, they'd probably finish unpacking everything in an hour or two.<p>

He was really glad to see that she was opening up to him, and he was immensely glad to have suckered her into letting him spend time with her unguarded self. They talked, joked, and laughed as they worked, but he noticed that she still avoided topics that would reveal more about her than she intended to. Despite being in the weird arrangement they have for over a month now, he still didn't know anything more about her than what Hiko already told everyone and her behavior at work. She was his little mystery, and he couldn't wait to figure her out.

"I really don't see why you can't just leave my kitchen alone." She complained good-naturedly as they worked on unpacking and arranging her various kitchen materials. "I told you I'll only need the microwave and the dishes. All of the others will only take up unnecessary space."

He scoffed. "You have about eight cupboards here. What were you planning on putting in them? Rocks?"

"What if I was?" She grinned.

He turned to face her from where he was placing the heavy duty casserole on one of her cupboards and raised his brow.

"Fine." She sighed, slumping down onto her kitchen table and putting her face on her forearms.

He grabbed another pan to place on one of the top cupboards. "Really, Kaoru. I don't know why you're so against the idea of having a proper kitchen. It's not like having all of these pots and pans in their proper places will make your house spontaneously combust."

"I don't want the temptation, okay?" she grumbled.

"Temptation?"

She pushed herself off of the table and raised herself onto the kitchen counter near him. "Look, I know I can't cook. But that doesn't mean I don't get tempted to _try _every now and then."

Curious, he leaned his hip against the counter and crossed his arms to wait for her explanation. "And that's bad because…?"

"Clearly you haven't seen me work my magic in the kitchen yet. I had to move out of my apartment when I tried frying a couple of eggs back in college."

His smile grew brighter at her revelation, making her stare up at his violet orbs confusedly. _Now _they were getting somewhere.

"See, was that so hard, Kaoru?" he asked after a bit of a pause.

"Was what so hard?"

"Telling me about yourself." He grinned. "I think that's the first thing you've ever told me that doesn't relate to the hospital, sex, or alcohol. Am I finally getting into your good side?"

Her brows met in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"I just mean," he started as he put an arm around her waist so she could lean her tired form into his. "That you never volunteer information about yourself. It's like you have all of these secrets that you don't want to share with anyone."

She tensed at his observation and tried to pull away from him, but he didn't let her. "Everyone has secrets, Himura."

"And obviously you have a lot of them." He teased. "Come on, Kaoru. Tell me one little secret. Consider it as payment for all the hard work I've done for you today."

"In case you've forgotten, _you _were the one who forced me to let you help." She scoffed indignantly. "_I _wanted you to leave me alone."

He chuckled. "I didn't exactly hear you complaining when we were carrying all those boxes up to the attic." He looked at her again. "Why are you so against me learning more about you?"

"And why are you so against me keeping secrets? Just because we sleep together doesn't mean we have to know everything about each other, you know."

"I don't see why we can't be friends too." He shrugged. "You've been working nonstop since you got here and not _once _have I seen or heard you go out with anyone."

She raised a brow at him. "Whose fault is that?"

"You're avoiding the topic."

"That's because there _is _no topic. Look, we hang out, we have sex, we work together. Are you honestly telling me that you're asking for more than that?"

"I'm asking you to go out with me." He smirked.

She laughed and pushed herself away from him before walking to her refrigerator to grab a bottle of cold water. "Are you crazy?" she asked before throwing another bottle at him.

"Thanks." He said appreciatively as he took a sip of the cold drink. "And no, I'm not crazy. What's so crazy about wanting to go out with you?"

"As in on a _date_?"

"Is there any other implication of _going out_?"

She looked at him seriously for a moment to judge if he was joking or not. Realizing that he wasn't, she sighed. "I really don't get you."

"What's not to get?" he asked curiously.

"Kenshin, we're already sleeping together. Hell, you're here almost three to four nights a week and we spend all of that time in bed. What else could you possibly want? That's supposed to be the perfect arrangement, you know. Don't mess it up."

"Why will dating mess it up?"

"We work together. I'm the chief resident, and you're an attending. What we're doing now is risky enough as it is." She explained calmly, willing him to understand what she was trying to say.

He smirked and stepped closer to her. "What _are _we doing now?"

"I'm not even going to try answering that question." She chuckled before turning away from him and leading him into the hallway. They were both a bit sweaty from all the work, but seeing the box-less hallways and rooms were enough for them to appreciate their handiwork. The kitchen was the last room on the list, and all they had to do now was to bring up the last two boxes that were lying at the foot of the stairs.

"You know you always end up giving into what I want in the end, right?" he mused as they walked together. "You always start things out so grumpy, but then you eventually realize that what I'm offering you is too hard to pass up on, so you end up doing what I suggested in the first place. Why don't you just save both of us the trouble and give in when I ask?"

She chuckled. "Now where would be the fun in that, Dr. Himura?" She paused when they reached the bottom of the staircase that led to the bedrooms and the third floor attic. "These are the last two boxes. They're not too heavy, so it shouldn't be hard for us to bring them up to the attic."

"Alright." He nodded. He stared at her sweat-clad form and gathered her into his arms with a mischievous look on his face. Her back was pressed intimately up into him and his mouth was right by the shell of her right ear. "I assume you have no other plans after this?"

"Not really, no." she grinned, turning around so she could lock her hands behind his neck. "Why do you ask?"

"You have a high IQ, Kaoru." He grinned back. She laughed when she realized that what he was saying were the exact same words that he said to her that morning when he was trying to convince her to let him stay with her for the rest of the day. "I know you know what I want."

She laughed. "I guess I do." She pulled away from him playfully and gestured towards the boxes. "Well, if that's what we'll be doing for the rest of the day, then I'm going to go hop in the shower. _You _can take these upstairs as payment for all the… _hard labor _you'll be putting me through."

Laughing at the commanding tone she used, he mock-saluted her and easily picked up the two stacked boxes. "Yes, ma'am. I'll see you up there."

"Don't you dare open those boxes, do you hear me?"

"I wouldn't even dream of it."

She grinned and gave him a quick peck on his cheek before running up the stairs to do just as she said. He shook his head at her—surprisingly—playful behavior and walked up the two flights of stairs that led to the dusty attic. Sighing as he stepped into the dank room, he looked around for a place to put the boxes in. He was about to walk towards the corner of the room when he felt his foot catch on something which made him up fall to his knees. The boxes he was holding flew from his arms and crashed onto the wooden floor, its contents ending up scattered all over the attic.

"Kenshin? Are you okay?" he heard Kaoru call worriedly from downstairs.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" he called back with a raised voice to ensure that she would hear him. He cursed as he stood up and brushed himself off, looking around to try to find the reason behind his rather painful fall. When he saw the raised floorboard by his right foot, he scowled at it and made a mental note to get Kaoru to agree to fix it later. He doubted that she'd be open to letting him do a few chores around the house to help her out given what he did with her that day, but that didn't mean he couldn't try. She's a very independent person, and he could tell that having him help her do something for _her _house made her uncomfortable.

Once all his limbs were intact and he made sure that he had no unnecessary injuries, he lifted his eyes to look at the mess in front of him. What he saw made his brows lift and his eyes widen in surprise.

There, lying innocently before him, were paintings, artworks, and various sketches on average sizes of canvases and huge sheets of drawing paper. He had no idea why she didn't want to open the box, nor could he understand why she would choose to hide its contents rather than hang them around the house given the delicate grace and beauty that each piece had. He was thinking about asking Kaoru about them when he went down to meet her, but when he squatted down to examine a particularly beautiful piece closer, he realized why she didn't want him to see any of it.

The 18x25 landscape-oriented painting was a portrait of a flame-haired little girl created using different shades of gray, blue, pink, and orange. The details that were crafted into the image were amazing—made even more special by the fact that it was created using watercolor, a medium that even he knew was difficult to control. It was unlike anything he's ever seen before, but what really drew him in was the haunting look that the orange-haired girl had on her blue-gray eyes. For someone who looked so young, the amount of defiance and strength that shone in her orbs took his breath away, and when he remembered that he was only looking at a painting, his admiration for the artist grew. The piece had so much emotion in it despite it containing nothing else but the portrait of the girl. Then again, he realized, painting something else on the plain white background might've ruined the tone of the artwork.

He stared into the image for quite a while, noting the freckles and the bruises that were also painted onto the child's face, along with the wisps of orange hair that framed her face—which, by the looks it, escaped from an unseen ponytail that the girl was sporting. When he finally got his bearings back, he glanced down at the bottom right corner of the canvas he was holding, and his eyes widened in surprise when he saw, written in small, cursive letters, the name of the woman that he was currently pursuing.

His Kaoru was a _closet artist_—a very talented one at that, and he had absolutely _no _idea why she wanted no one else to know about it. He glanced around at the other artworks around him and every piece just made him appreciate her talent all the more. He knew she was a brilliant surgeon, and now he also knows that she's a brilliant artist. It made him wonder what other secrets she could be hiding in that tiny little body of hers, and he felt all the more excited to find out.

First thing's first though, he had to get this mess cleaned up as soon as possible before she could find out that he saw them. She did, after all, expressly state that he was _not _allowed to look at the contents of the box, and he didn't think she would appreciate it if she found him up here ogling at one of her well-kept secrets.

He was about to pull himself up when a small slip of yellowed paper caught his eye. Gingerly, he picked it up and realized that it was a newspaper clipping. It looked old, but since there was no date on the piece of paper, he didn't know when exactly it was from.

**Kamiya Koshijirou Dies at 43**

_Koshijirou Kamiya, critically-acclaimed multi-medium artist, died of heroin overdose last Sunday. He is survived by his wife, the esteemed French Actress, Emi Laurent, and their gifted daughter, Kaoru Kamiya._

Surprised and wildly curious about what he just read, he was about to continue doing so when—

"What the fuck are you doing?"

He sighed. Curiosity always did kill the damned cat.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Told you guys this was going to be light and sort-of chick-flicky. Hahaha we all need a break from heavy plots every now and then. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this!

And to all of the readers and followers of this story and of the other ones I've written, I am immensely grateful! I hope you guys will continue to support the other pieces I'll write. Thank you thank you thank you!

I'm excited to hear what you think about this!

Cheers!

**PS **The artwork I described is from Silvia Pelissero aka Agnes Cecile.


	4. 4: Kaoru

**Author's Note: **What I love about this chapter is that I got the plot down all in the span of a cup of coffee and two cigarettes. As always, I had fun writing this and I hope you'll have fun reading it too.

Before you continue though, I have to warn you: I am not a doctor, nor do I have any background in the medical field. So if there are any inconsistencies between the descriptions in this story and the reality of medicine and the health sciences, please forgive me. I do perform a bit of research prior to writing chapters like this, but the internet's not really a perfectly reliable source for technicalities, no?

Anyway, enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Rurouni Kenshin, or any of its characters. All information regarding the institutions that will be mentioned in this story are fictional. This is being written purely for entertainment purposes only.

* * *

><p><strong>Relevance<br>****Chapter 4**

**Kaoru**

It was supposed to be simple, this arrangement of theirs.

Don't get her wrong, she was fully aware of how what they were doing wasn't really moral, or ethical, or _right_, by anyone's standards—but then again, she wasn't just anyone. Misao, her best friend from college, always did say that she had a rather fucked up moral code. People who've known her for most of her life chalked it up to her less-than-perfect childhood, but she didn't really believe that. In her book, perfection is something that could never be achieved in life, and everyone has struggles that they face every now and then; it just so happened that she had to face her share of hardships early in her life.

She didn't blame her parents either. I mean, sure her Dad died of something that a lot of people frown upon and her _Mamman _is a stuck-up, perfectionist who didn't really approve of her career choice, but she understood them both. The pressures of being an artist—a well-known artist at that, wasn't anywhere near easy to live with. She knows this because she lived through it. It wasn't exactly an ideal environment for a developing child—watching and dealing with your mother having a panic attack while hiding from the French paparazzi was quite horrible, if she may say so herself, but it helped form who she was now, and she rather liked who she is, so she didn't resent the way she was brought up.

She wasn't a perfect person, she's aware that she has a lot of flaws, and she's also aware that perhaps the biggest of these flaws of her is her impulsivity and her ability to run. Not run in the literal sense, though. It's more of the metaphorical kind—the kind where whenever she faces a challenge or a problem or an… _inconvenience _in her personal life, her first impulse would be to run from it. She'd try to get as far away from it as she could, then she'd find a way to distract herself from whatever it was she was running from.

She ran from her beloved _Mamman _when she tried to force her into the circles of the French elite, then she forced herself to forget all about it by enrolling herself in Stanford under one of the best medical programs in the States. When her mother found her in California, she ran to Boston and eventually became one of the country's best surgical residents. When the distractions she indulged herself in seemed like it would lead to her destruction, she ran to New York where she's now working as the state's best chief resident. It's true that the way she deals with her problems isn't really considered as courageous, but it was clearly very productive for her so she didn't see anything wrong with it.

The way she sees it, what she does to herself isn't really harming anyone else. Everyone has ghosts that they run from every now and then, and we all have different ways of dealing with being haunted. We're all human, and as human beings, we all find ways to survive and to float through our troubles without drowning. She isn't hurting anyone else, so she refuses to be called a bad person for the things she does to kill her sadness. In the same way, she refuses to be put down for wanting to keep some things hidden.

Kenshin wasn't in love with her or anything, so she knew he wouldn't be hurt or anything if she ended up kicking him out of her life. They don't know each other that well, and really, the main purpose of their arrangement was to provide each other with a distraction from the stress that they get from the hospital and from whatever else they wanted to be distracted from. What the hell was the purpose of keeping him around if he was going to be there to remind her of everything she was, admittedly, running from?

She didn't mean this in a bad way, of course. She's just being practical. And in all fairness, she really didn't want to end this with him yet. He may be annoying from time to time, but lately, she's been enjoying his company far too much to consider him as a pesky little disturbance that she had to deal with every day. He was warm, comforting, funny, entertaining, nice—basically everything you'd want in a friend, and she wasn't arrogant enough to admit that she isn't growing rather fond of him. In fact, it was because of him that she was starting to consider actually _dating _someone again—and she hasn't done that in _years_.

So it was with a really heavy heart that she had to do what she had to do to save herself from all the hassle of him being too involved with her personal business.

Her blue eyes were wide in shock as she gaped down at his bent form up in her attic. Goosebumps ran all over her skin, but she wasn't sure if it was because of the cold temperature around her—she was, after all, wrapped in nothing but a white towel, and her skin was still a bit damp from the shower that she just took—or if it was because of the surprise she felt at seeing him looking at things that she so desperately wanted no one else to see… ever. Hell, she didn't even want to see them herself!

She saw him flinch at the tone that she used, but she was in no mood to soften her voice. Her hands were shaking because of an emotion she couldn't recognize, and she was trying so hard to control her suddenly erratic breathing. _'This is _not _happening'_.

"Kaoru, I—" he gulped, spinning himself to face her. "Look, I can explain."

Her heart stopped when she saw the very familiar newspaper clipping he was holding and she mentally swore at the sight. _'As if the paintings aren't bad enough.'_, she thought sardonically.

He saw her looking at the paper he was clutching in his right hand and he hastily cast the offending sheet away as though it burned him. _'Trouble, trouble, trouble'_, his blood sang as he stared at her frozen form. "I tripped, see?" he explained, pointing towards the raised wooden plank that caused him to fall. "I tripped and the boxes fell, and well… I was just starting to clean them up. I didn't mean to see what I saw! Honest!"

He rose and lifted his palms in a placating gesture, his eyes wide and wary as he tried to guess what she was thinking at that moment. Her milky skin glowed under the dim lighting, and her sapphire eyes were bright as she took in the situation. He was glad that she at least listened to his explanation, and she seemed to understand what happened, but he still didn't know what she was going to do now.

After a few more heartbeats, she spoke.

"Get out." She sighed tiredly, one of her hands lifting to pinch the bridge of her nose to control her jumbled thoughts and emotions.

He stepped closer to where she was standing. "What? I really didn't mean to—"

Her eyes flashed as she locked onto his worried gaze and he cringed at the fire he saw behind her sapphire orbs. "Just leave, okay? Leave. I can take care of the rest by myself."

Kenshin stared at her a bit more before sighing when he realized that there was no way she was going to calm down so long as he was within her sight. Sighing resignedly, he said, "Alright. I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then."

She nodded and he started making his way out the door. As he stood beside her though, he paused and dared to kiss her cheek—and was pleasantly surprised when she didn't react violently. "I really didn't mean to see all those, Kaoru." He apologized again. "I'm sorry for the trouble."

"I know." She replied softly. She knew he was a bit hurt by her dismissal, but she really did understand what happened and she didn't blame him for it. She just needed him to leave because she knew that it would take her a while before she'd be able to file away the memories that seeing the paintings brought up in her head. She gave him a gentle smile and she saw the surprise blossom in his eyes before his face morphed to give her a warm smile in return. He turned and started making his way down the stairs, but before he could get out of earshot, she called him.

"Kenshin?"

"Yeah?" he asked, turning around to look up at her.

She smiled, a genuine one this time. "Thanks for all the help today."

He paused and his eyes widened again when he heard her, obviously surprised that she wasn't screaming or throwing things at him. When he got over the brief shock he felt because of what she said, he smiled back at her. "No problem. It was my pleasure."

He nodded at her one last time and a couple of minutes later, she heard her front door close.

'_Alone again.' _She thought as she made her way to her bedroom to get dressed before she had to deal with the mess. _'Naturally.'_

* * *

><p>"You look like someone shat on your cereal bowl, darling."<p>

Kaoru scoffed. "Good morning to you too, Kamatari. I see you're obviously feeling better."

The effeminate patient laughed as he continued speaking, his French accent barely noticeable as he teased. "How could I not when I'm being treated like a superstar every day? Seriously darling, I never thought I'd have much use for your unglamorous career choice, but I guess I was wrong."

She chuckled at her friend's cheerfulness and stepped further into the room where Kamatari Honjou, one of her closest friends, was confined. Her chest constricted at seeing him look paler than usual because of his current condition. His usually vibrant and glossy hair was lacking its usual luster, and his arms were covered in splints and bandages due to the various fractures that he acquired the week before he was brought in. There were dark circles under his eyes, and it seemed as though he didn't even have the energy to put on the usual amount of make-up that he used to make himself look healthier than he was. She carefully masked her worry, though, since she knew that her friend would hate her for having such a morose expression on her face. She forced her lips to curl up into a smile and walked closer to his bed to grasp his outstretched hand in hers as a gesture of support and care. Silently, they both watched the rest of her residents shuffle inside the room and patiently waited for them to settle themselves so they could proceed.

The doctors were just about to conclude their morning rounds seeing as this was the last room that they had to visit before they were free to do their other tasks for the day, and Kaoru could not be happier. Ever since Kamatari was brought into the hospital the week before, she'd taken to always leaving his room as their last stop so she could have the time to chat with her cheery friend after the formalities were through.

"I see you've brought your little pets with you, darling." He smiled up at her and placed a gentle kiss on her knuckles. "Although I have to say, must they look so… _drab_? Seeing faces like those won't help me get any better, I assure you."

"Oh? And what will?" she asked amusedly, ignoring Megumi's annoyed huff at being referred to as something less than exquisite.

He grinned. "Well, bringing those delicious surgeons in would help a great deal. Give me the tall one for a day and I'll be as good as new."

"You're traumatizing my residents, Kam. Now shut up and let us work." She admonished before turning towards the four doctors who were standing in front of them with varying degrees of amusement on their faces. "Takani, present."

Megumi cleared her throat and stepped forward as she opened the patient's chart and started rattling off the various information that summarized his medical history and the treatment he was being given during his stay in the hospital. "Kamatari Honjou, 28. He has Type IA Osteogenesis Imperfecta or OI, which is a congenital bone disorder that is characterized by a lack of the necessary collagen structures that are supposed to make bones less brittle and less prone to fractures."

"Give the girl a golden star." Kamatari mumbled jokingly to Kaoru, making her chuckle and hide her face behind her free hand. Enishi snorted, but schooled his face into a more serious expression when he saw the heated glare that his colleague was giving him.

Megumi blushed and took a deep breath before continuing. "He was brought in last week after he acquired a chest trauma which fractured his sternum, which led to the rupture of a part of his aorta. To properly perform the needed repair, Dr. Sagara had to clean out the fracture before performing a median sternotomy, after which Dr. Himura proceeded to repair the damaged aorta."

"Good." Kaoru smiled. "What are we looking out for now?"

"We have to check his stats every hour to monitor the volume of his chest tube drainage, heart sounds, and to watch out for signs of shock. Right now, he's prone to developing a cardiac or pericardial tamponade. He could also develop a clot which could eventually cause a stroke."

"And fractures. Never forget fractures, darling." Kamatari concluded, his smile widening when he saw Megumi's brown orbs flash in irritation before giving him a tight nod.

"Thank you, Dr. Takani." Kaoru gave her friend a warning glare before turning to address her residents again. "Alright, that's it. Everybody step out so I can give you your assignments for the day." She was about to leave the room herself, but a surprisingly firm hand tugged her back.

"What is it?" She asked worriedly as she stared down at Kamatari's suddenly forlorn expression.

The patient sighed. "You'll come back, right? I just… Can you just stay and talk to me for five minutes or so? You know how much I hate hospitals."

"Of course, Kam." She replied gently, carefully easing her hand out from his grip and placing a soft kiss on his cool forehead. "I'll be right outside. Give me a minute and I'll come back here."

Kamatari nodded at her with a tight smile and watched her leave before settling back onto the cushioned bed. Kaoru smiled at him one last time right before closing the door, silently telling him that he won't have to wait long.

She sighed as she closed the door behind her and lifted her head to face the four bored faces of her residents. It annoyed her to no end whenever she saw her subordinates acting so arrogant and so impartial to their patients. She's been training them for a month now, yet she hasn't seen any significant changes in their attitudes and this frustrated her. For people who were supposed to be the smartest and most talented surgeons in the entire state, she honestly couldn't see what was so great about them.

They took everything for granted. Every surgery was like an exam for them and nothing more. They'd complain whenever they'd be assigned to an operation that they've already performed before, they had absolutely no respect for pre-ops and post-ops, and they treated the patients as though they were nothing but animals that were being offered as a treat for their blood-thirsty hands. As she looked at each of her residents' faces, she felt a deep urge to smack all of them until they finally realize that it was _them _who should be thankful for being given an opportunity to save lives. She wanted them to realize that they were there not there because they're the cream of the crop, but because other people _trust _them to be able to take care of their sick loved ones.

None of the four doctors noticed the dark look she was giving all of them though, and when she finally got a hold of her senses, she thanked the heavens for their ignorance. She shook herself out of her dark thoughts and focused on the task at hand, silently telling herself that her dark mood was probably just being caused by Kamatari's presence in the hospital.

"Alright." She cleared her throat. Their attention successfully gained, she eyed each of the doctors as they stood up straighter than they were before and dutifully circled around her.

"There's a neonatal case coming in today." She said with an emotionless tone. "It's going to be a complicated procedure, which means that more than one team of surgeons will be required in the OR."

Looks were exchanged between her four subordinates and she couldn't help the grin that grew on her face. "It's a Neo-Natal procedure, but we'll be working closely with cardio since this also technically falls under their specialization. So far, Chief Seijuro, Dr. Himura, and myself have already signed on the case, but we need two more residents to scrub in and assist."

"The chief's operating?" Enishi asked, surprise painting his eyes. "Lately he's only ever scrubbed in on the big cases."

She raised a brow. "The procedure _is _rather unusual, and it's very delicate too. So we need the best hands we could get. One tiny slip could cause the baby and the mother's lives."

"The mother's? What do you—"

"Ectopia Cordis, kids. Does anybody know what that means?"

"It means there's a heart that's growing outside of a baby's body in-utero." Megumi said quickly, stepping closer towards her with her eyes alight with excitement—which was probably the first emotion aside from anger that Kaoru's seen from the resident. "There've been less than two hundred cases, and only a handful have survived various procedures so far. It's a very risky case to operate on."

She grinned. "That's right. Five stars for you, Takani." She paused and pulled out the chart that she was handed two days prior that included all the information that she needed for the procedure that they would be performing later that day. "We'll be performing an emergency C-section on Mrs. Yamada to get her thirty-five week-old baby out so we can put everything back in its proper place. Two ORs have already been blocked off for this. The first OR is for the C-section, and the second will be for the baby's surgery. After the baby is delivered, Chief Hiko will close the mother, while I'll be assisting Dr. Himura with the cardiac repair." She closed the chart and held it behind her back as she stared at the eager faces of the four doctors in front of her. "The way I see it, most of the surgical team will be in operating rooms the entire afternoon—including myself. Obviously, this means that the two residents who won't be scrubbing in while we're in that room will be out here monitoring the patients on the surgical floor."

She steeled herself for the next part of her announcement. "Sanjou, you'll be at the pit today. Takani, pre-ops and post-ops, Yukishiro and Seta, you're with me."

"Excuse me?"

'_Thought so._' "Problem, Takani?" she said coldly as she turned to face the seething resident.

"Pre-ops and post-ops? Are you sure I won't be needed in the OR?" Megumi asked angrily, throwing a baleful glare at the two men who were now avoiding her angry gaze.

"I said I only needed two residents, and now I have them. So yes, Takani, I'm very sure that you won't be needed in the OR." She sighed. "The rest of our patients though, will need you today. I need you to keep a close eye on 4314 and 4425, and I want hourly updates on Mr. Honjou's stats. I know you know what to watch out for."

The resident scoffed. "So you're asking me to _babysit_ your _friend _instead of learning from a possibly once-in-a-lifetime surgery?"

"If you call doing your duties as a doctor "_babysitting"_, then yes. Like I said, most of the surgical team will be in operating rooms and we need doctors like yourself to stay out here to make sure that none of our patients will get worse while we're in there." She paused and studied the snooty doctor. "Or do you need me to re-educate you on the importance of pre-ops and post-ops?"

She ignored the glare that Megumi was still giving her and turned to the other doctors. "Any more questions?"

"What time will the surgery be?" Soujirou asked softly from his spot beside Enishi.

"I'll brief you on more of the details later. We're all supposed to meet in Hiko's office in two hours to talk about how everything will go, so you'll know everything by then." She answered. "Any more?" At their silence, she nodded and made her way back into the room. "Go. Page me if you need me."

She heard a final huff from Megumi before she was able to step fully into the room and she couldn't help the scoff that bubbled out of her throat after hearing the arrogant sound. Her heels clicked and clacked as she walked towards the low couch that was placed on the left side of the room, directly across from the hospital bed.

"Probléme?" Kamatari asked amusedly as he watched Kaoru's stony face melt into a more relaxed expression.

She sighed and proceeded to answer her friend in French as well. "Yeah, from the usual suspect. I swear that woman has too much pride than she can handle. She's just so…"

"Like you?" Her friend asked with a raised brow. "You used to be exactly like her, if I remember correctly. The poor Bostonians didn't know what to do with you. They never even had a chance."

"Hey! At least I never undermined _my _chief resident." At seeing his meaningful look, she backpedaled. "Well, not without reason. I wasn't about to let a patient die on me just because my boss' head was too far up his ass to see that what he was doing was wrong."

Kamatari shrugged. "Maybe she just thinks the way you're handling her is wrong too. Based on what I've seen from the last week, she _does _seem like she's being punished."

"She's not." She scoffed. "She just wants in on a hot surgical procedure. I'm telling you, Kam, she's far too arrogant for her own good, and until she tones that arrogance down, she won't be taking part in any major surgeries any time soon."

"Oh whatever. She's _your _student. Just make sure she doesn't kill me or anything." He drawled, waving his hand as if to shoo the topic away from his current train of thought. "_Anyway_, is her attitude really what pissed you off so royally this morning? Or is it something else… maybe… _someone _else?"

"Pissed off? I wasn't pissed off." She denied halfheartedly.

"Oh, don't fuck around with me, you little chit." He scolded with an amused grin on his face. "I could smell that mood from halfway across the world. Please darling, save us both the time of having to go through your denial rituals."

Kaoru looked carefully at her friend and observed his mannerisms. For as long as she's known the effeminate man, she rarely ever saw him paying close attention to her moods. He was never one to want to talk about morose topics, or anything that wasn't of his interest. In fact, one of the few times he has ever approached her about the reason behind her frustrated disposition was when—

"Who did you talk to?" she asked, her eyes narrowing down into a pair of angry slits.

He smiled as he adjusted his bed and gently leaned back down onto it. "What _are _you on about now, darling? Can't a friend want to share with his darling's burdens?"

"Kamatari." She warned. "Who did you talk to? What do you know?"

"By the way," he started, closing his eyes in an expression that looked a lot like delight. "Where _is _that little redhead of yours? Isn't he supposed to be checking in on me at around this time? I'm surprised you two didn't come in here together." He opened his eyes a bit to see her reaction to what he said, and he wasn't dissatisfied when he saw her eyes widen at his not-so-innocent question. "You know, he really is a nice guy, Kaoru. He's been taking _such _good care of me day in and day out. He even dropped by last night just to see how I was doing."

'_He didn't seriously—' _"What did he tell you, Honjou?"

"Honjou? My dear dear girl, hasn't anyone ever told you that taking that tone never helps things?" he teased. When he heard nothing but silence, he opened his eyes fully and twisted his neck so he could see her completely. He sighed when he saw the angry glimmer in her eyes. "Oh, Kaoru. You don't have to be so uptight about it. I was only having a bit of fun."

He sighed again and turned to face the ceiling, his voice holding a wistful note as he continued. "You know how hospitals make me feel. I just… I'm so _tired._"

She scoffed. "Stop being such a drama queen. That little skit of yours stopped working on me three years ago." Despite her annoyance at his obvious attempts at meddling, she couldn't fight the grin that crawled up her face when he turned back to her with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"I guess that's true. I really need to think of a new thing. This woe-is-me-my-bones-break-when-I-sneeze drama's getting a little too old, eh?" He conceded. "Really though, what's up with you and the red-man?"

"Nothing." She raised her brow. "Why the hell are you so interested anyway? Did he say anything to you?"

It was his turn to scoff as he remembered the various moments that he had seen between the redheaded surgeon and his friend over the period of his confinement. "Of course not, you stupid girl. He didn't _need _to say anything."

"What do you mean?"

"Seriously, with the way you two've been ogling each other every time I see you, I'm surprised none of the other doctors here have noticed. Although," he brought his voice down conspiratorially and she had to strain to hear him. "I can't say the same for the nurses. They're very… perceptive."

She sighed. "I'm tired of going around in circles, Kam. Just get to the point already."

"Oh darling." He chuckled. "How long have you two been sleeping together?"

"Sleeping together?" she asked amusedly. She eased herself into a more relaxed position on the low couch and kicked off her nude pumps as she brought her legs up and stretched them out on the sofa. She didn't need to worry about creasing her outfit since she already draped her lab coat over one of the other seats in Kamatari's room when she went in the second time, and she was only wearing a dark pair of jeans and a dark blue knit sweater—her scrubs were still in her locker since her surgery wasn't for another three or four hours. Her hair sprawled underneath her when she leaned her head against the sofa's armrest and she brought her arm up to cover her eyes to get a few minutes to unwind. "What makes you think we're not dating?"

"Because, Kaoru, much to my obvious dismay, you don't _do _dating." Kamatari replied easily. "I haven't seen you date since your mother set you up with that horrible bastard back in _Toulouse_."

"Damn it. How many times must I beg you to not remind me of that nightmare." She groaned. "I still don't understand what _Mamman _saw in that guy. He was even more conceited than she was."

"So I guess his beautiful face never did anything for you? Personally, I wouldn't have minded living with his ego as long as I got to wake up next to that Adonis every morning."

She giggled. "Of course you wouldn't, Kam. Although I don't think you would've survived his morning breath. You'd think he eats shit for a living with how it smelled like."

"Don't ruin him for me!" Kamatari laughed. He sobered easily enough and took on a more teasing vibe again. "But we digress, sweetheart. You still haven't told me about the delicious surgeon you're enjoying now."

"There's nothing _to _tell, love." She explained patiently. "We're sleeping together, we're keeping it under wraps, you know the drill. It's all routine, really. I don't know why you even bothered asking me."

"Because, darling, you're not doing a really good job of hiding it this time—not if the nurses are already spreading all sorts of lovely stories about you two. You're many things, Kaoru Kamiya, but you are _not _sloppy." He pointed out.

"Well it's not _my _fault." She defended. "_He's _the one who won't leave me alone. He follows me around everywhere."

"Ah, and you're letting him, lovely girl. _That _is the big deal about this particular escapade of yours. Usually, you'd've dropped him like a hat by this time."

She fell silent at what he said and mulled over his words. To be fair, Kamatari _did _have a point. She never had trouble with getting rid of guys who would compromise her career or reputation, so she considered the possibility that maybe, deep down, she was starting to like having him around.

Maybe it was the fact that he was so different from anyone she's ever done this with before. After all, most of the men that she'd have a… physical arrangement with never really bothered trying to convince her to spend more time with them outside of the bedroom—which was perfectly understandable since she didn't want to anyway, and since their "agreement" posed no complications at all. It was an ideal way to enjoy the physical aspects of a relationship without actually having to deal with all the other drama that real relationships shoved down each party's throat.

Aside from his obvious persistence in that regard, she also couldn't deny that the conversations that she shared with the redhead were very amusing. He had the rare ability to make her laugh and provide her with more distractions from her dark thoughts, and his mere presence was able to shield her from being plagued by thoughts and memories that she would rather not be bothered by. That's actually why she didn't even try too hard to push him away whenever he'd force himself into her bubble while they were at the hospital. She may not want to fully admit it to herself, but she liked spending time with him—and she was still dealing with how she should address that recent discovery.

"He's… a friend." She stated softly. "We're friends who just happen to sleep together."

Kamatari laughed. "Right. Friends."

She grinned and listened to her friend mock her about her choice of words for a few more minutes. It was nice to see and hear him acting so jolly, and for a moment, she fought the urge to go over to his bed and just hug the life out of him because she missed him so much.

It was just sad that they didn't meet under better circumstances this time around. Kamatari was brought in by an ambulance the week before at around 2:00 AM, with blood coming out of his mouth as he screamed for Kaoru to be brought to him down at the ER. If it weren't for all the blood that was covering his clothes and the various bandages that covered his arms and legs, she would've laughed at seeing him cause the medical practitioners such hell as he demanded for only the best hands to touch him.

He was lucky that she was in the hospital for her weekly 48-hour shift at the time, otherwise he would've been strapped down and that would've just made everything worse because the people who brought him in were far too focused on the blood coming out of his mouth to ask if he had any other medical issues that would hinder his treatment. As it was, though, she ran down to the ER as soon as she was paged and froze at seeing her long-time friend being manhandled by the doctors who were on-call.

She'd known Kamatari for twelve years now, having met him at one of the social gatherings that her _Mamman _forced her to attend when she was younger. He was a very friendly and entertaining face in the midst of all the snooty artists, and they were both immediately so enamored with each other that they ended up spending most of their time together. That, however, was back when she was still living in France, and while she was still letting her mother steer her life and decisions to fit what was expected of her.

He was one of the few people whom her mother had approved of. It was rare for the beautiful and extremely talented Emi Laurent to ever agree with her choice of "companions", as she so lovingly put it, but Kamatari's popularity as a painter made him more than qualified in her mother's eyes. Prior to her decision to pursue a career in medicine, the two of them had been quite renowned for their various collaborations—more so because they both come from the artistic elite, as the press described the social circle that their families were a part of.

Kamatari was one of the reasons behind why Kaoru felt that becoming a doctor would be more fulfilling for her. After an unfortunate accident that he was involved in, his rare congenital disease was brought to her attention, and she never stopped caring for him since. He resented her for it, and he hated himself for a time because he believed that it was because of him that her then-blossoming career ended abruptly. The decision forced them to part ways since he was still enrolled in the highly distinguished _École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts (ENSBA)_, Paris' national school of fine arts, while she opted to drop out of the art program in the same school so she could transfer to Stanford and continue the rest of her career in the States.

It wasn't until he visited her in Stanford a year after their separation did he realize how truly happy she was with the path she'd chosen for herself. So, he kept her secrets and helped her hide from her seething _Mamman_, who was terribly angry at the decision she made.

It was Kamatari who attended her graduation ceremonies, and who kept in touch with her throughout the years. They kept their bond strong despite the distance, and he refused to see any other doctor aside from her—as long as it didn't put his life in danger, of course. He was dropping by for a surprise visit when he accidentally slipped on ice and sprawled out on a wooden bench where he broke his sternum, and a few more bones.

"There's nothing wrong with dating, darling." He said patiently once their mirth died down. "God knows you're old enough, and you're _Mamman _clearly has no jurisdiction over you in this place. Does he know about you?"

"Sadly." She sighed as she pushed herself up and rubbed her eyes. "He stumbled into some of my old paintings last night. I guess he pieced it all together from there."

Kamatari yelped happily. "Well, take this as a good thing then!" She turned a curious glance at him as a prompt for him to elaborate. "Now you won't have to go through the awkward admission phases, or whatever it is that couples do whenever they'd have to say something serious. Drama was never our thing, _chérie_."

"I don't even know what he thinks about it. Besides that, I'm still trying to build up my foundation in this hospital. If anything like that comes out, I swear I'll lose whatever respect the others have for me so far. God knows my residents think so little of me."

"Pish posh. If you're talking about that snooty little _garce_, then you don't have to worry about that. You said so yourself, she's too full of herself to recognize what actual talent is." He huffed. "Besides, if they're going to judge you because of your social background, then fuck them. What does something you used to do have to do with where you are now?"

Kaoru chuckled. "Alright, alright, Kam. You don't have to get so worked up about it."

"I'm not. Look, all I'm trying to say is that who you used to be shouldn't affect who you want to be now. You worked hard for this, and you deserve everything you have." He grinned. "And you most certainly deserve to enjoy that _fine, fine man._"

"You just want me to date him so you could spend more time with him, you little _putain_." She laughed.

"Actually, I'd much rather spend more time with the handsome, tall one. Sagara, was it? I'd love to have him as a… muse."

Kaoru shook her head. "I really don't understand what you see in Sanosuke. I would've thought he'd be far too crass for your liking."

"Hush, love. You know that doesn't matter since our paintings don't talk." He chuckled.

She stretched her arms and arched her back to get rid of a few kinks that her muscles have developed. "How is everything back in Paris, by the way? I haven't heard from _Mamman _in a while now."

"Oh, it's all fine." Kamatari shrugged. "Same old, same old. Although I did do a portrait of your _Mamman_ for UNICEF a while back. It sold for €300,000, and it all went to their Ebola fund."

"That's wonderful." She smiled. "So, _Mamman's_ doing alright, then?"

He nodded. "As fine as could be. But I have to warn you, Kaoru, she's coming here soon. I think she heard about you working here from someone, so you should expect to see her in the next few months."

"It's not like I can do anything about that anyway, so let her come." She waved. "What I really want to know is what _you're_ doing all the way over here. I'm not buying your _I wanted to see my best friend_ excuse."

"You're far too unsentimental, darling. Of course I came here to see you!" He gushed. "I was invited to be a speaker for a seminar that NYU's Institute of Fine Arts will be holding next week, but I only accepted the invitation so I could visit your darling face. I haven't seen you in over a year now, and you never visit me in France."

"You know why I can't, Kam." She explained.

"I know, I know. Which is why I'm here…"

Her eyes flashed as she studied him closer, noting his fidgety hands and the way that he couldn't quite look straight at her. "Any other reasons?"

Kamatari sighed. "I miss you, darling." He said sincerely, making her pause and scrunch her eyebrows in confusion.

"I'm right here, Kam."

"No, I mean… I _miss _you. Don't you ever miss painting with me?" he asked. "We used to have so much fun, Kaoru. We were so full of _joie de vivre _and we were ready to take on the world." He sighed again. "Won't you consider painting even just _one _more piece with me? Please?"

"You dirty little scumbag." She said in English after a few more moments of studying him, her eyes narrowed into thin slits. "Who asked you to talk to me?"

"What?" He gasped, aghast at her insinuation. "How could you ever think that of me! I was baring my heart and soul and this is what you say to me?"

"Kamatari." She scoffed. "You don't _do _drama, and the begging was overkill. So who was it?"

He laughed and had enough decency to try to appear sheepish. "_ENSBA_, who else?" He leaned further into his pillow. "There's an alumni project, and they would really like for us to submit a collaboration piece. They didn't even give us a topic. They said we're free to paint whatever we'd like, in whatever format and whatever size we want."

"Wow." She breathed. "They never give that much freedom to commissioned pieces."

"Yes, well they would like for us to do the piece so they can display it in the entrance hall. I was thinking we should do a mural or something." He smiled. "Don't you remember how much fun we had with those back then?"

She smiled back as she remembered the fond memories that mostly involved the effeminate man, huge canvases, and hours filled with wine, music, and paint. "Of course I do."

"So will you at least think about it?" He asked hopefully.

She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose as she fought between the desire to have one last bout of fun and the urge to stay as far away from anything that could jeopardize her career as humanly possible. At this point in her life, she valued little else but the medicine; but the opportunity that she was being presented with was very, very tempting. She sighed. "I don't know, Kam. It's… it's going to take a lot of time."

"Time she doesn't have to waste on frilly little drawings." A loud voice interrupted from the suddenly open doorway.

The two friends turned towards the source of the voice and grinned at seeing the giant intruder. They watched as Hiko stepped further into the room, his large frame blocking Kamatari from outside view since he left the door open. The chief was dressed in a pair of black slacks and a gray polo, which were covered by the neatly pressed lab coat that he donned. As always, his dark hair was tied neatly into a low ponytail, and his strong arms were crossed as he gave the two people measuring stares—as if trying to figure out if they were up to no good.

"'Morning, Chief." Kaoru greeted cheerily as she slipped her feet into her shoes.

The chief of surgery ignored her greeting and turned towards the patient. "Good morning, Mr. Honjou. I just wanted to check in on how you're doing today."

"Oh I'm perfectly fine." Kamatari smiled. "Thank you very much for dropping by. You make me feel so… special." He winked.

Kaoru chuckled at her friend's flirtatious manner and the way that Hiko's eyes widened slightly at the way the patient spoke to him.

"That's—er, that's wonderful news, Mr. Honjou." The chief said, clearing his throat to rid himself of the discomfort he was feeling.

"Kamatari, please." The effeminate man said coquettishly. "I want you to feel as comfortable as possible around me, Hiko—" he widened his eyes and blushed. "Oh, sorry. I hope you don't mind me calling you Hiko… I tend to forget my manners around such beautiful men."

Kaoru laughed out loud at seeing her boss' reaction to what her best friend said, and decided to intervene lest Hiko decide to make her day horrible because of her friend's actions. "Alright, enough Kam. You're going to make the man faint." With one last kiss on Kamatari's cheek, she bid him goodbye and dragged the stunned chief out into the hallway.

Since they weren't due to meet Mrs. Yamada for another two hours, Kaoru took the chance to invite her boss to have a cup of coffee down at the hospital's cafeteria so they could enjoy a few moments of peace before they were thrown into all the preparations that they needed to go through for the surgery that they'll be performing. Seeing as he had nothing better to do and since he wanted to discuss something with the chief resident, he agreed to join her after making her promise that she won't be talking about his incident with Kamatari with anyone else in the hospital.

The walk down to the cafeteria was relatively silent and without any significant happenings. They each purchased a cup of cappuccino with two extra shots of espresso and settled down on a table that wasn't too far away from the small, but nicely built garden that they had in the middle of the refectory.

"I had a feeling that you knew about who I was before I went into medicine." She mused after taking a couple of sips of her hot drink. "I was very surprised that you considered me for the job, actually. Considering the backgrounds of everyone else in the program, I would've thought that you'd think I wasn't qualified for this."

Hiko scoffed. "Your personal affairs are no concern of mine. I'm not going to inflate your ego by telling you about why I chose you to be a part of this hospital, since I have no doubts that you already know what your previous employers and teachers say about you. In this hospital, everyone who can do their job and who can do it well is considered qualified. No questions asked." He paused to glare at her. "Although I'm warning you, Kamiya. The next time your mother calls me to demand that I fire you from this place, I won't be too kind."

"She called you?" She gasped.

"Last night. Apparently, one of the press people from your country got a hold of Mr. Honjou's whereabouts and snuck around here. An article was published last night about his condition and _the missing gem of Toulouse_." He explained with distaste.

She groaned, but before she could say anything in her defense, Hiko continued speaking. "Should I be expecting trouble here, Dr. Kamiya?"

"Trouble?"

"We have dealt with the press before. We're one of the best hospitals in the country, and we've been dealing with lots of pests because of all the high-profile cases we get." He paused. "The only articles that are published about _my _doctors are those that talk about their medical breakthroughs and, sometimes, their failures. Getting one of my top surgeons' names plastered around on some tabloids—on _international _tabloids, no less, because of anything _aside _from their career might tarnish our credibility here. If that happens, it's going to be hard to defend my decision to hire you against the board." He took another sip of his coffee before gingerly placing the cup down onto the table and giving her an appraising look. "If there's anything I need to know in case anything like that happens, you need to tell me now so we can take the proper precautions. I hired you here because you're one of the best, but I will _not _be made a fool of."

She met his gaze unflinchingly and tried to see if he was bluffing in any way at all. He was obviously dead serious about what he was saying, and she silently cursed her complicated history with every fiber of her being for causing such a disturbance in a career that she so wanted to pursue for the rest of her life. Obviously, her mother's knowledge was going to be a complication that she might have to deal with in the near future, and she couldn't possibly do so without getting help from those ranked above her. However, she still didn't have the heart to tell him any more than what he already knew. Sighing, she shook her head and looked away. "No. There's nothing. What you know is probably all that you need to know."

"You're sure about this?"

"Look, I was brought up in France with a drug addict for a father and a conceited, perfectionist mother. It's not my fault that they did well in their careers, and I refuse to be prejudiced against because of something that I _can _do but don't want to do. I graduated at the top of my class in Stanford and I was one of the highest scorers during my batch's medical boards. I had an outstanding record back in Boston, and now I'm here because _you _wanted me to be here. I'm a _good _doctor, Chief. Just because I can do something that's not really common among doctors from time to time doesn't make me any less of a surgeon." She grunted. "I'll talk to _Mamman _about press control. If we aren't able to control it and if things get out of hand… well, I know my place. I know when to bow out."

Calmly, Hiko leaned back against his seat's backrest and crossed his legs. "Good. I'll take it that you plan on staying with us for a long time, then?"

"You have the best training program in the entire country. I would've assumed that the answer to that question was obvious."

"It is. I just didn't understand why you wanted to make things harder on yourself with what you've been doing recently."

Her eyebrows met in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Himura." He said, his eyes shining with what appeared to be amusement. "I would've thought that you of all people wouldn't be so inclined as to involve your personal affairs with what you do in this hospital."

"What—there isn't—I'm not…" she sputtered.

"I told you, Dr. Kamiya. I am not one to be made a fool of." He said. "The nurses here talk, and in this hospital, getting involved with one of the top surgeons is a big deal to the staff—especially when the person who's messing around with the head of cardio is new."

Frustrated at the sudden turn of events and the knowledge that NewYork-Presbyterian _clearly _had no respect for the privacy of employees, she slumped down and leaned her hand against her palms. "I'm not _trying _to sneak around, Hiko." She sighed. "I met Dr. Himura _before _I even came—"

"I am _not _interested in your personal affairs, Dr. Kamiya." The chief interrupted.

"Well you sure seemed like you were based on all the gossiping you've been doing." She muttered.

Hiko scoffed. "I don't gossip. I was volunteered the information." He looked at her heavy-laden form and sighed. "I'm not saying that it's against the rules or anything, Kamiya. Like I said, so long as you can do your job and do it well, then we won't have any problems on that front. However," he paused and waited for her to look up at him. "Things like that tend to get messy. And I do _not _like dealing with personal messes. I have no time to watch you or any of my doctors fucking around in this place—not when too many people rely on us to keep our shit together."

"I know what you're saying." She said seriously, her head now pillowed on her forearms as she craned her neck to meet his eyes. "I don't like dealing with messes either. I promise we're going to try and keep it as low key as possible. Anyway, I'm not really that interested in his specialization and we've already worked together before—with no hitches, mind you. We have it under control."

"Do you really?" he asked with a grin. At her confused stare, he continued. "We'll see about that."

"What are we going to see?" a loud voice interrupted.

Kaoru and Hiko both turned to watch the tall surgeon walk closer towards them. Grinning, Sanosuke nodded at the two of them and slumped himself down onto one of the vacant seats on their table. "Big surgery today, eh? I heard the skin flap just got here last night."

"I don't recall inviting you to join us, Sagara." Hiko remarked stonily.

Sano's grin widened. "Aw, come on Chief. Can't a guy enjoy a nice cup of joe with two of his closest colleagues?"

"What do you want?" The chief asked with a raised brow.

"Oh nothing." The tall surgeon replied breezily. "Just a bit of gratitude from little Missy here would be nice." He turned his attention towards the tired chief resident. "After all, I _did _save your best friend's life. I think I deserve a bit of love from little Lucifer."

Kaoru scoffed. "You did your job. I don't see how that deserves any kind of special treatment."

"Are you kidding me? With the number of broken bones that guy had? I deserve to be put up on a pedestal because of what I did." He paused and was suddenly engulfed with a serious air. "I have two surgeries this afternoon, so I won't be able to check in on him as often as I'd like. How are his post-ops? Who are you leaving in charge of the floor while all of you big shots are on the preemie case?"

"Yukishiro and Seta will be assisting us with the surgery." She said simply. "So Takani's going to be on pre-ops and post-ops while we're in there. She's more than capable of taking care of Kam."

"What? Are you sure about that? Isn't Takani obsessed with cardio?" Sano asked. "I would've expected her to be with Kenshin on this."

She sat up and ran a hand through her hair. "Neo-natal's a sensitive field. Operating on mothers and babies is not a game, and I have no doubts that if you stick her in there at this point, she won't treat this as anything else but a prize or something. Besides, Yukishiro and Seta are more than qualified to join us, and Takani is needed on the surgical floor in case something goes wrong while we're all stuck in surgery."

"It's a high-profile case, Missy." Sano mused.

"We all know that, Sagara." Hiko interrupted. "Dr. Kamiya cleared the assignments with me this morning, and I have no qualms with her decisions. Besides, if anything goes against our plan, she knows what's going to happen."

The orthopedic surgeon raised his palms in surrender. "Alright, alright. I'm just tellin' 'ya. Watch out for that little fox. I'm sure as hell she wasn't happy about this, and she's gonna be givin' 'ya hell for it, Missy."

"Don't you think I've already started dealing with that?" Kaoru grinned. "It really is amusing how she keeps fighting me on every decision I make. I'm amazed that you all tolerate her attitude."

"Before you came in here, people were shit scared of her, so it wasn't really an issue of _tolerance_." Sano recounted.

"What made it change then?"

He looked at her as though the answer should be obvious. "_You _came in."

"And?"

"And as it turns out, you're even more of a monster than she is." He joked.

Kaoru laughed and tried to give him a good smack on his head for his observation, but he dodged it easily enough. Since the serious topics were already dealt with, the three doctors spent the rest of their lag time talking about the surgeries they had lined up for the day as well as a few strategies that they could use for the procedures. Surprisingly, Sano made no jabs about her budding relationship with a certain red-haired surgeon that morning—a fact that she was glad for since, to be honest, she has already had her fill of discussing something that didn't really have to be discussed in the first place.

In the past month that she's been employed in the hospital, she found that she greatly enjoyed Sano's company. Thanks to her close relations with Kenshin, she'd spent many a night being entertained by his rambunctious behavior and drunken antics; and thanks to her standing as chief resident, he always hung around her to beg her to assign him a decent resident for the day—which meant that they spent a lot of time together.

She never had any awkward moments with the tall surgeon, despite the issue of her unwillingness to give his best friend a chance to get to know her better. He teased her often enough, but all of it was done good-naturedly and you could always count on Sanosuke Sagara to leave you room to think for yourself instead of forcing you into something that you obviously weren't ready for yet. Although he did sometimes grate on her nerves because of his violent tendencies and his overprotectiveness—especially when they'd be drinking together in their favorite bar without Kenshin's presence, she had to admit that watching him threaten and, occasionally, start beating random guys who looked at her in the wrong way into submission was amusing. Especially since Sano had the wonderful ability of fighting without injuring his fists too much.

For particularly insensitive brutes, Sano made sure to break a couple of bones or so just so he'd be sure that the pests would show up in the hospital to ask for _his _assistance. Seeing the patients' faces upon realizing that the same guy who was responsible for breaking their bones would be in charge of healing them was priceless, and the two of them have spent a lot of time laughing and re-enacting those instances. Of course, it made it a bit difficult for them to look Hiko in the eye the next day when he would ask them if they had anything to do with causing the injuries in the first place.

"Oh, hey, lover boy's here." Sano mumbled as he raised his hand to wave his friend over. "Oi Kenshin! We're over here!"

She chuckled when she saw Hiko throw the loud surgeon a scornful glare at the commotion he was making. She knew that the redhead was probably worried about how she was going to react to seeing him after what happened between the two of them the previous night, but talking to Kamatari and Hiko about what was happening between them put things into perspective for her. Kamatari had a point when he said that she should view his unintentional discovery as a good thing, and since Hiko had no ill feelings against the arrangement they had now, she couldn't really see a reason to push the man away. She enjoyed his company, and she has always been someone who went after what she wanted regardless of the consequences. Live in the _now_, was her philosophy.

"Good morning." Kenshin greeted as he came closer, standing between Sano and Kaoru as he gauged the mood of the table he was about to join.

The three surgeons nodded back at him, Kaoru making sure that her face betrayed no emotion as she waited for what he was going to do next.

"I uh… I figured you wouldn't have had breakfast yet." He said carefully as he looked down at her, gently offering her the brown bag he held in his right hand. "So I brought you a couple of bagels from the café downtown. They're blueberry. Your favorite."

She quickly glanced at the amused faces of the two men who were sitting with her. Grinning, she stood up and locked her gaze with the redhead's, mischief shining in her sapphire orbs. "Thanks, but I'm already full. I think Sano's hungry, though." She grabbed her things and bid the three doctors goodbye as she walked away.

"See you in surgery." She winked at Kenshin's surprised face.

She may have had a few realizations that morning but that didn't mean that she'd stop having a bit of fun before she gives in completely.

* * *

><p>"I heard something from a little birdy." Sano sang as he fell into step beside her.<p>

Their surgical team just finished the briefing and speaking with the patient for their major procedure that afternoon, and Kaoru was making her way up to the surgical floor to start scrubbing in for the surgery. Sano was apparently due for his own procedure, so she let him walk beside her. Besides, it wasn't like she minded his company in the first place.

"Oh?" she chuckled. "And why should I be interested in your petty gossip?"

"Because it involves you, of course!" He gushed, placing his arm around her and leaning down to whisper conspiratorially into her ear. "I know your secret."

"What?"

"Well, two secrets really." He grinned. "First off, I didn't know you were French. Although I should've suspected it based on the thing you have going on with Honjou. You'd _have _to be French to be able to keep up with that guy… or girl. I never really know which gender to consider him as." He mused.

She sighed as she listened to him drone on, already knowing what secret he was referring to. The possibility of Sano finding out so soon wasn't really that unexpected since Kamatari was aware of the friendship that blossomed between her and the rambunctious surgeon. That, and Kenshin's discovery was really bound to slip out to someone else sometime soon. She wasn't really worried of it spreading out to anyone else though, since the three people she considered important to her were already aware and she knew that they wouldn't risk her anger by telling anyone else.

"But more importantly," he continued. "I never would've pegged you as an artist, you little secret keeper, you."

"That's really none of your business, Sagara." She said.

He gave her an exaggerated gasp. "I am hurt! I am hurt that you would think that I wouldn't be concerned with my little Missy's business!"

She scoffed. "Why should you be? It's of absolutely no relevance to your life."

"Of course it is! See, I think it's very important to know all about the chick who's dating the little redhead." He grinned.

"We're not dating."

"You say that now, but my little birdy says that you will be soon." He pointed out. "And that little birdy is very credible."

"_Your_ little birdy's name is Kamatari and he's going to die by my hands soon." She growled.

"And I'll be right there to fix him back up. You don't get to ruin the masterpiece I created, Missy. I worked hard on fixing your buddy's bones."

"Yeah and I'm _so _grateful for you for doing that."

He laughed. "Well it's about time I got some credit! You are very much welcome, sweetling."

The two doctors turned and stepped into the stairwell that would lead them to the surgical floor. Another thing that they had in common was their affinity with taking the stairs instead of holing themselves up in an elevator with a bunch of strangers. Although Kaoru didn't really understand why he felt the same way as she did, but she didn't bother asking him lest he ask a question himself.

"You do know I'm being sarcastic, right?" She remarked as she pushed his arm off of her shoulders and started going up the stairs.

"Nah. You're just saying that 'cause you're feeling a little shy." He said with a huge smile on his face. "Don't worry, I've learned how to read you, sweetling. I know what your heart really says."

"Call me sweetling _one more time_." She growled.

"Oh, you don't like it? What about _darling_? My little birdy did say you like that nickname a lot."

'_Kamatari, I swear to God_—' "Shut up, Sanosuke."

"How about _love_? Or is that going to be reserved for sweet little Kenshin now?"

"I'm warning you—"

"Sweetheart? Pumpkin? Sugar face?" he teased.

She huffed and turned to face him, making him freeze in his steps at the menacing glint she had in her eyes. "Sanosuke, if you don't stop, I'm telling Tae you have a liver disease that you're trying to keep under wraps so she won't serve you any more alcohol. Ever."

"Hey, no need to be so impulsive now." He gulped.

"Didn't the little birdy tell you, Sano?" She grinned. "I've always been impulsive."

Their banter was interrupted by a familiar voice that rung out in the stairwell, and they both paused as they listened in on the conversation that was being held on the platform above them. They weren't really the kind of people who would eavesdrop on what was clearly a private conversation, but the current setting gave them no choice. The door to the surgical floor was one flight of stairs up from where they were now, and there was no way that they were going to waste their time by going back down the stairs and taking the elevator instead.

"She's clearly punishing me!" A frustrated female voice exclaimed. "I don't know what that bitch's problem is, but she's clearly taking out whatever the fuck she's dealing with on _me_! She's been doing that since day one!"

Sano raised a brow at her when they both realized that it was Megumi who was currently ranting her lungs off at someone. The question now was who would be willing enough to listen to her throw a fit? The two shared amused glances as they paused and listened in on the loud conversation.

"Don't you think you're overreacting a bit?" another familiar voice replied.

Confusion filled Kaoru's head as she listened to Kenshin speak. What was he doing talking to Megumi? She knew that he used to work with her a lot prior to her employment as chief resident, but she didn't know that they were close. Throughout all the times that they've spent discussing her attitude, the redhead never gave any inclination that he conversed with the snooty surgeon often. Also, he's shown her nothing but support for the way that she was dealing with her residents. So to hear him willingly listen to Megumi complain about her was a bit weird if not altogether suspicious.

"No!" Megumi screamed. "I'm a surgeon, damn it, and I'm a good one at that! I _deserve _to be in this surgery, and I _deserve _to be taken seriously! I haven't even gone on any major surgeries ever since that woman stepped into this hospital! What right does she have to—"

Kaoru was highly amused at hearing what the younger surgeon thought of her and she was struggling to keep her laughter in as she continued to listen to the conversation. It wasn't rare for her to encounter people who didn't exactly approve of the way that she went about with her responsibilities. In fact, she'd already had one too many confrontations about it before. It was a good thing that she knew when what she did was either right or wrong, and in this case, she was obviously doing the right thing with the way that she was treating Megumi Takani. So far, none of the people who really matter have ever berated her, so she believed that her first move with the girl—to bring down her arrogance in the OR—was the right step to take. Sano clearly felt the same way, if the grin on his face was any indication.

"She's your chief resident, Megumi." Kenshin explained patiently. "She has _every _right."

Megumi scoffed. "Don't even get me started on that. I don't know what the hell _possessed _Chief Seijuro to bring that ditz into this hospital. Much less put her in charge. I mean, she clearly has no clue what she's doing around here and I don't appreciate being placed under the tutelage of someone like _her_."

"She's a very talented surgeon, Megumi. I can assure you that she's more than qualified to be here and she's fully capable of running _all _residents." The redhead replied. "You may not like her right now, but she knows what she's doing."

"Why are you taking her side anyway?" Megumi grumbled. "Come on, Kenshin. It's just the two of us here. I've heard about how much of a bitch she is to you inside the OR. I honestly don't know why you keep hanging around her. It's clear enough that she's too much of a stuck up prude to realize that you're just trying to help her adjust to the hospital. You can tell me you hate her."

Suddenly extremely interested in what was being said, Kaoru strained to hear Kenshin's voice as he replied to the irate woman.

He sounded amused as he spoke, and she fought to keep the grin off of her face for fear of receiving more of Sano's merciless taunts. "I'm not taking sides. I'm just telling you, as an attending, that Dr. Kamiya knows what she's doing in this hospital and you should really trust her more to lead you in the right direction. Besides, she's my… friend. I like hanging around her."

"Is that why I haven't seen you around ever since she dragged herself in here?" The resident replied accusingly. "I bet that little hussy's been trying to sleep with you, isn't she?"

Kenshin's laughter rang all around the relatively silent stairwell, and both Sano and Kaoru struggled to keep their own chuckles as silent as possible. This girl was just too much for Kaoru. This was the best entertainment she'd ever gotten since she landed in New York!

"What? She has, hasn't she?" Megumi huffed. "See? I told you that little bitch is more trouble than she's—"

"I can assure you, Megumi, that she hasn't been doing anything that she shouldn't have been. Besides, what she does—what anyone of us does during our free time shouldn't concern you." Kenshin chuckled.

"Of course it concerns me!" She paused, and the three doctors' laughter died down as they all listened to what the resident was going to say next. "You haven't been answering my calls or any of my messages, and we haven't gone out in a month." She sighed. "I miss you."

"Megumi." Kenshin sighed as well, his mirth completely gone now. "You know I told you that—"

"I know, I know." She grumbled. "You don't see me that way, and I'm your resident, and you're my attending, and we work together. I understand that. But that doesn't mean I can't still be your friend. Just because we went out and it didn't work out doesn't mean that things have to be awkward between us."

Kaoru's eyes widened at what she heard and she immediately fixed Sano with an accusing glare. Sano, on the other hand, shook his head and pointed up—a gesture to listen to what the redhead was going to say next.

"Megumi," Kenshin said gently. "I'm sorry if I ever gave you the wrong message, but we didn't go out. We shared a few drinks, and we spent a bit of time together, but that's something I do with all of the residents I work with. You shouldn't—"

"Oh stop being so insensitive, will you?" She said angrily, her denial clearly overriding her sense of propriety. The two fell silent and Sano and Kaoru waited for the sound of the door opening and closing that would signal the two doctors' exit from the stairwell. They were understandably surprised when they heard Megumi speak again after a few minutes.

"Look, whatever. Just—do you want to go out tonight? We can grab a late dinner and I have a nice bottle of wine back at my place."

"I can't. I have plans tonight."

"What? With that _whore _again?" Megumi replied scathingly.

Kaoru rolled her eyes as she got fed up with all the names that she was being called by her subordinate, and she nodded her head at Sano as a signal for them to start making their way up the stairs. Sano shrugged and grinned as he softly hummed the Jaws theme song while walking behind her.

"_Ba-dum, ba-dum ba-dum, ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum baaaa"_

She made sure that the click-clack of her heels was audible as she climbed her way up the last flight of stairs that would bring them to the platform that Kenshin and Megumi were on. She wasn't surprised when the two surgeons turned wide eyes onto her and Sano's unexpected presence, and she cleared her throat as she stepped closer to where they were.

She gave Kenshin a short nod as a gesture of acceptance for the apologetic smile that he cast in her direction. Sighing, she turned towards the seething resident.

"You were _eavesdropping_?" Megumi hissed menacingly at her.

Fed up with her insubordination, Kaoru mustered her anger and threw it all into the glare that she was sending back at the younger doctor and into the steel in her voice as she spoke. "It couldn't really be called as eavesdropping considering you were practically screaming every word you said to Dr. Himura, and this hallway isn't private so Dr. Sagara and I had every right to be here."

She saw Sano school his features into a more neutral expression as he made his way over to Kenshin's side of the platform. It was clear that he and Kenshin had no intention of interrupting her, and she was grateful for their trust in her method of disciplining her resident.

"That doesn't give you the right—"

"Oh it gives me _every _right, Dr. Takani." She hissed. "I think you seem to have forgotten the fact that I'm your superior, and that I have _every _right in the world to deal with you as I see fit. I don't know how you were brought up, but where I was from, respect was highly valued in the workplace, and if you don't know how to _show _respect, then you shouldn't expect to receive it.

"I am _tired _of hearing you complain and gripe every day, Dr. Takani, and I am warning you right now that if you don't change that attitude of yours anytime soon, I will have you _kicked_ out of the program." She warned, silently pleased at seeing the younger doctor's face pale and her eyes widen in surprise and slight fear at the threat. This was something that she's never even dared to mention before, but clearly things were getting out of hand if Megumi thought that she was free to say anything about her behind her back without having to deal with its consequences.

"You can't do that." The resident said stubbornly.

"Can't I?" Kaoru replied with a raised brow. "I'm not just some _bitch _or _hussy _or _whore_, Dr. Takani. I assure you, I can."

She smirked at her subordinate's stunned face and turned to walk away from her and make her way into the OR that they'll be using that afternoon. "If I remember correctly, you're supposed to be doing post-ops and pre-ops. Given your preoccupation with Dr. Himura here, I highly doubt that you've done anything that you were supposed to be doing over the past hour. If you're done with your tantrum, I need you to check on Mr. Honjou in—"

"4425, I know." Megumi said.

Kaoru chuckled. "I was just reminding you. Seems to me like you've been awfully forgetful recently. You should get that checked out."

Calmly, she followed the two attending surgeons out into the hallway that would lead into the operating rooms. She smiled at Kenshin as a thanks for holding the door open for her, and he nodded back. As soon as they stepped out of the stairwell, they shrugged the event out of their heads and focused on what was going to happen that afternoon.

"Harsh, Missy." Sano commented from his spot beside her. "God help that girl for messing with you, eh?"

She sighed. "I just hope she learns from this. I can't risk her becoming careless just because she can't deal with me being in charge of her now." Suddenly remembering one part of the conversation that they overheard, she turned to Kenshin who flanked her opposite side. "You never told me you and Takani went out."

Amused, Kenshin looked back at her. "We didn't, and I didn't think it was important." He paused and smirked at her. "Why? Jealous?"

"You wish." She scoffed.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Wow. That was long—longer than usual for this story, anyway. When I started writing this chapter, I just had so much fun that I didn't even notice the length anymore. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this.

I actually had more notes for this chapter, but I figured that I'd just cut it here and leave the rest for the next update—which should hopefully be up soon since the outline's ready to go.

To all my readers and faithful reviewers, thank you so much! Right now, I'm kind of thinking about setting up a schedule for my updates since I have three stories that I'm currently working on. But then again, we'll see. After all, I mostly only write when I feel like it or when I'm suddenly hit by inspiration or an intense desire to do so.

Thank you thank you thank you so much for all the feedback and love! I'm looking forward to hearing what you think about this one!

Cheers!


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